Bad news from Busan sends Sunam in a state of mourning

Sitting in his shop-cum-home located in the narrow lanes of the town of Sunam in Sangrur district of Punjab, it was almost after 24 hours that Ram Swarup — a retired patwari and father of middle distance runner Sunita Singh — was finally speaking.

A heart patient, 62-year-old Swarup was admitted to a local hospital after failing to cope up with the news of his daughter being tested positive of nandrolone and stripped of her medals in the Busan Asian Games. He was discharged today but the family members made it sure that he didn’t answer any phone calls or tune in to the television.

But he doesn’t want to sit quiet now. “Whatever that has happened is wrong. I spoke to Sunita and she told me that she had not taken anything except water. When she was cleared in Delhi before leaving for the Games then how could she be found positive in Busan,” comes another poser from Swarup.

It’s a clear reversal of fortunes for Sunita’s family. Exactly a week ago, it was party time in her household. “Sunita won a gold medal in the 1,500m event at Busan last Thursday and it was her nephew Golu’s birthday as well. So, it was kind of a double treat for us,” recalls Sumanpreet, wife of Sunita’s brother Shinder Pal. A death-like silence and not any celebration greets the visitors, a week later.

“I know she is completely innocent and it would’ve been better if she would’ve lost than to have won the medals and got disgrace as a reward,” joins in Sunita’s mother Santosh Rani.

With a rail track just a few metres away from her bedroom, Sunita grew up challenging the locomotives. She first begun running at the age of 14 on the insistence of her weightlifter brother, won a few medals, and was hooked on to the sport ever since.

Catching up with Sunita, training at the cinder track of local Shaheed Udham Singh Stadium in the early hours of morning was nothing unusual. “It was a kutcha track before and was converted to a cinder one later on. I accompanied her everyday and we used to reach the stadium sometimes as early as 3.30 a.m,” tells Swarup.

In fact, he bought a bicycle with gears just to match Sunita’s speed when she went on the state highway for long distance running. “I always believed she is a better sprinter than a middle-distance runner.” In the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998, Sunita won a silver in the 5,000m and a bronze in the 1,500m events. Then came the Arjuna Award (1999) and the Padamshree (2001) — recognitions that are still closest to the heart of her family.

Earlier this year, Punjab Police rewarded Sunita with the plum post of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Patiala). Says her father: “We wanted her to get married after the Asian Games but the doping controversy seems to have put that on hold. Now, we will support whatever decision she takes to redeem her glory.

“It was your newspaper which had reported a couple of days ago that Sri Lankan athlete Susanthika Jayasinghe was also tested positive and later cleared after convincing the authorities that she had taken the drug to control her irregular menstrual cycle. Same is the case with Sunita. If the whole nation stands by her side, nobody in the world can think of banning her,” moist-eyed Swarup ends the conversation with an appeal.