Sunita stumbles but may not fall

• Some legal dietary supplements, when broken down by the body, produce the same tell-tale chemicals created when nandrolone is broken down

• The human body has been proven to produce close to 10 per cent of the official limit set for nandrolone in a dope test

• In 1998 Sri Lanka’s star sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe — she won the 100m at Busan and pulled out of the 200m with a hamstring injury — tested positive for nandrolone. But she was later cleared after convincing the authorities that she had taken Ovral, the drug she used for her irregular menstrual cycle. Ovral contains natural compounds similar to the banned substance.

The tenuous nature of tests for nandrolone first came to attention in 1999 when European 200m champion, Britain’s Dougie Walker, was suspended after testing positive. Walker was quickly cleared by British authorities who till today maintain that nandrolone tests aren’t reliable. However, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) stands by the test.

Since then, British sprinter Linford Christie and Jamaican Merlene Ottey have also tested positive for nandrolone. Christie was again cleared by the British. Ottey was later cleared not just by her federation but also by the IAAF.

Sunita Rani’s fate will likely reside on whether she can convince authorities in Busan if the nandrolone came from natural circumstances.

Asked today whether and what her coach had given her after her 1,500m win, a distraught Rani burst out: ‘‘How can I tell you what he had given me? Do you understand women’s problem?’’ If she hopes to clear her name, Sunita Rani had better say what it was.