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BENGALURU --- When the womens 4x400m relay quartet of Nirmala Sheoran, Tintu Luka, MR Poovamma and Anilda Thomas booked Indias berth at the Rio Olympics during the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru earlier this month, one of their teammates would have been forgiven for pumping her fist harder than others.At 28, Ashwini Akkunji is raring to have her first go at the Olympics. More than that, it would be a shot at redemption for her.I come from an agricultural family in a small village called Jansale, Udupi district (in Karnataka), and in my childhood days I used to run in school, Akkunji says. My father always encouraged me about sports. The foundation of my career in sport was when I went to a sports school in Bangalore.Starting out as a sprinter, the young Akkunji tried her hand at 800m as well, before settling on the 400m, encouraged by her father, who observed how her lanky frame and stride-length gave her a natural advantage.However, it would take a few years, until the preparations for a seminal year in 2010 which brought her in touch with Russian coach Yuri Ogorodnik, that Akkunji began a purple patch in her career.The year 2010 was really amazing, because I got a very good opportunity to train under Yuri and the 4X400m relay team; the seniors were really good back then, Akkunji says of a phase when she helped India to relay golds in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games, besides bagging the 400m hurdles gold in the latter.I learnt a lot of things from my seniors, truly speaking, because they guided me. They told me things about running and also encouraged me a lot.A dark phase was to follow, when Akkunji and two of her relay teammates were among seven athletes who tested positive for anabolic steroids just prior to an Asian Championship in Japan the following year. Akkunjis voice chokes when recalling the two-year ban that followed.Those two years, emotionally and personally as well, were the hardest of my life, Akkunji says. My morale had really gone down. If my life had been normal then, I could have won gold medal. People used to humiliate us; I know it was a difficult situation. Life was entirely different, between 2010 and 2014.The ban was lifted 2013, and her first competitive race only took place the following June at the Inter-State Championship in Lucknow. Running the 400m hurdles, she beat her closest competitor by almost nine seconds in her heat. She then clinched the gold with a timing that broke the existing meet record -- held by Jauna Murmu, ironically one of her former colleagues who was also handed out a ban in 2011.She was ready for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, though this time the Indian team would fall way short of defending the crown they picked up in Delhi, finishing fifth in their heat. In two months time, Akkunji sat out as her younger teammates smashed the existing Asian Games record -- recorded by Akkunji and her team in 2010 -- on their way to the relay gold in Incheon.Akkunji stresses the importance of educating athletes about what they are ingesting, while pointing out an inherent flaw in the Indian drug-testing system.We dont have any specialised lab here to test. If anyone is taking something, we dont know what we are taking. We (athletes) are not manufacturers; at least we should have one specialist lab where we can test whatever we have taken. It is just a precaution.Akkunji also demands greater accountability from the nutritional supplements industry, possibly because there were rumours at the time of her ban that the banned substances had been introduced into the athletes due to supplements given by their coaches.The supplements industry is just a money-making enterprise. They dont think about athletes. But as athletes, we have to take supplements. Our physical capacity is not that much; we have to train and we need recovery.We cant say daal, chawal, roti?(pulses, rice and bread) and youll be an Olympic medallist. I dont think so; it would be foolishness. If daal, chawal, roti?was the diet of champions, every man on the street would be a medallist. Everybody is different and we have to think about recovery, diet, and everything.Akkunjis eyes light up when asked about the prospects of the relay team in Rio. Our team is really good for the Olympics. Two of the girls are from PT Ushas academy, one of the girls, Nirmala (Sheoran), is from Haryana; shes a really young girl. And we also have (MR) Poovamma, Anilda (Thomas), Debashree (Majumdar) and me.?People can say anything, but the 4x400m girls will always come in medal reckoning. New girls, anybody, (even) if I am not there, any of the other girls...the 4x400m team is always going to win in Asia and the next Commonwealth Games also. Were going to get medals. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Sale . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Air Jordan 3 Canada Sale . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. http://www.airjordan3canada.com/ . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Air Jordan 3 Cheap Canada . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Canada .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. Atlanta Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant has a torn pectoral that is expected to require season-ending surgery, sources told ESPNs Adam Schefter.The Falcons released a statement Sunday saying Trufant will see a doctor this week and that a season-ending procedure is possible.If we go down that road -- and Tru is going to get some more opinions this week --?Jalen Collins?would be the one that would step in at that spot, much like he did today, Falcons coach Dan Quinn said after Sundays game. Well have more news about that as the week goes on. I was really pleased with the way Jalen competed today. If we do have to go down that road with Tru, well certainly miss him. But Jalen would be our guy that would step into that role.Trufant was limited in practice this week and had been holding out hope he could play Sundday against the Arizona Cardinals.ddddddddddddIt is a significant loss for Atlanta, which will try to shut down the remaining teams on its schedule without its best cover cornerback.You really cant try to replace a guy like Trufant, said Falcons receiver?Julio Jones. But the way were structured here, its the next man up. Jalen is up now, and we just have to keep giving him those game-rep looks at practice so he can be ready to go in the game.Trufant suffered the injury in a Thursday night Week 9 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He missed Atlantas Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles before the bye.Information from ESPN Falcons reporter Vaughn McClure was used in this report. ' ' '