New Delhi: Double Asian Games gold medallist Ashwini Akkunji's name has been struck off from the list of nominees for this year's Arjuna Award following her dope flunk, Sports Minister Ajay Maken said on Wednesday.
"The Committee on Arjuna Awards will decide on who would be conferred the award. But SAI will scrutinise the list and this year Ashwini Akkunji will not be considered as her 'B' sample has also tested positive (for anabolic steroid)," Maken told a press conference.
Akkunji and seven other track and field athletes returned positive for anabolic steroids in the tests conducted in May and June by the IAAF and National Anti-Doping Agency in one the worst doping scandals of the country.
Maken said the dope scandal had affected the medal hopes of the country in the 2012 London Olympics.
"The dope scandal has affected us. We would have won medals from some of them. They were medal hopefuls," he said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 19:07