Dope blow mars athletes'
fine showing

India's euphoria on Monday over a strong showing by their athletes at the Busan Asian Games in South Korea was dimmed by woman distance runner Sunita Rani's positive test for a banned drug.

"India bring home the baton but get one on the knuckles," said a headline in The Indian Express . The Hindustan Times' main story was captioned: "Relay teams rally together to cushion dope blow."

Indian athletes collected 11 gold medals -- seven of them in track and field -- and 12 silver and 13 bronze medals at the games. The performance matched India's best away-from-home gold medal haul in the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.

Organisers said on Sunday a banned drug was found in a urine sample of Rani, 22, who won the 1,500 metres and came third in the 5,000 metres. She denied taking any prohibited substance but said she had been using a liver tonic.

Japan's Kyodo news agency said traces of nandrolone, a muscle-building drug, was found in her urine. She has asked for the testing of another sample that will be done in Seoul on October 25. A positive result could mean she will be stripped of her medals and face suspension from competition.

The news of the drug result came on the second-to-last day of the games when Indian athletes capped their efforts by winning the women's 4 x 400-metre relay with their male counterparts grabbing the silver medal.

K M Beenamol, 27, emerged the star of India's showing in track and field, anchoring the longer relay squad to victory to finish with two gold medals and a silver. She earlier won the 800 metres and finished second in the 400 metres.

The doping allegations came after Indian lifters Krishnan Madasamy and Sateesha Rai tested positive at the recent Manchester Commonwealth Games and were stripped of their medals.

Indian media reports said the doping issue could tarnish the credibility of the performances of other Indian athletes.

"For those trying to find an answer to India's all-round strength in athletics, especially the Chinese, this might just be the answer, though many genuine performances will also be doubted from now onwards," The Hindu correspondent wrote from Busan.

Rani who won silver and bronze medals in the last Games in Bangkok four years ago, had just returned after being sidelined for almost two years due to a severe hip injury.