Ashwini Chidananda Shetty Akkunji (born 7 October 1987) is an Indian sprint athlete from Siddapura, Udupi who specializes in 400 metres. Ashwini has won Gold Medals at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

and the 2010 Asian Games in 4x400 m relay team event with

Manjeet Kaur Manjeet Kaur (born 4 April 1982) is an Indian sprint athlete from Punjab who specializes in 400 metres. She held the 400 m National record of 51.05 seconds set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet held in Chennai on 16 June 2004. She bro ...

, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose and an individual gold medal in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

on 25 November 2010 at the 2010 Asian Games held at

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, in China. She is also a recipient of the

Rajyotsava Prashasti The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Awards, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 November celebrated as t ...

(2010), a civilian honour awarded by the Indian State

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

Bio

Born in Siddapura, Udupi,

Kundapura taluk Kundapura Taluk is a taluk located in Udupi district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kundapur town is the taluk headquarters of Kundapur Taluk. Demographics As of the 2011 Census of India, Kundapura Taluk had 79573 households with a populat ...

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi or Odipu in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara coastal region, there are seven talu ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, she was raised in a Tulu-speaking family to her mother, Yashoda Shetty Akkunji and father, B.R. Chidananda Shetty. Ashwini hails from an agriculturist family. with a sporting legacy. She grew up on her family's 5 acre farmland amidst

Areca nut ''Areca'' is a genus of 51 species of palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and India, across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name ''Areca'' is derived from a name ...

plantations along with her elder siblings a sister, Dipti and a brother, Amith. Earlier, Ashwini was employed with the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

, and as a manager in Corporation bank in Patiala, Punjab and presently works as a coach in

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

Bangalore.

Doping

In July 2011 prior to Asian athletics championships in Kobe (Japan) she tested positive for anabolic steroids. She was subsequently dropped from the athletics team for the event and was suspended from athletics. She denied the charges but on 23 December 2011 the NADA banned her for a year. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an appeal by the International Association of Athletics Federations against lighter sentences and handed Ashwini and 5 other athletes (Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, Jauna Murmu, Tiana Mary and Priyanka Panwar) a two-year ban.

Awards, rewards and recognition

She was given the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2010. This comprised a cash payment of one hundred thousand Rupees, a 20 gramme gold medallion and a grant of priority in the allotment of house sites by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). She has been rewarded financially by both the national and state governments, as well as Indian Railways, in recognition of the gold medals won in 2010.The Village Road that Led to Guangzhou – Indian Express
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akkunji, Ashwini Living people 1987 births People from Udupi district Sportswomen from Karnataka Indian female sprinters Indian female hurdlers 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Doping cases in athletics Indian sportspeople in doping cases Kannada people Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes from Karnataka Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2010 South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games