Back from doping ban, sprinter Dhanalakshmi finding her feet again

CHENNAI: Dhanalakshmi Sekar, once a rising star in Indian athletics and part of the Tokyo Olympics squad, made an impressive comeback after serving a three-year doping ban by breaking her own state record in the 100m.

She went on to set a new meet mark in the 200m at the recent 97th Tamil Nadu State Senior Athletics Championships in Salem too.However, her real test will begin when she lines up at Nationals next month.Once among the brightest prospects in the Indian sprinting scene, having outrun top athletes like Hima Das and Dutee Chand, Dhanalakshmi’s rise came to an abrupt halt in 2022. The 27-year-old from Trichy tested positive for the anabolic steroid metandienone (a performance-enhancing drug) during an out-of-competition test in Turkey.

She accepted the violation, which reduced her suspension from four years to three.

Talking to TOI, Manikanda Arumugam, her long-time coach, said: “When it happened, she was in the national camp. She had no idea how it happened. She says she can’t understand it, even now. That’s all she told me. And even I didn’t push her to talk about it much because she was struggling a lot. My focus was just to make sure she came back and restored her name.”

When Manikanda, who runs the Rockfort Star Academy in Trichy, visited her after the ban was imposed, Dhanalakshmi was deeply disturbed and shaken.“Dhana was completely broken when I saw her after the ban. She comes from a poor background (her mother was once a farmer), and I have supported her a lot over the years. Thankfully, she had secured a job, so financially she was stable during that time. I told her after two years, 'we’ll come back'.”Last year, they resumed training and started from scratch. “She was completely unfit when we restarted. She was physically broken, especially in terms of fitness, and emotionally as well. We worked on strength training, endurance, and followed strict dietary routines. Last December, we held a trial specifically for her to assess her performance. We usually train at the Poonamallee Railway ground. Once a week, we go to the Anna Stadium for track work.

Tamil Nadu Athletics Association supported us when we told them Dhana will run this year,” said Manikanda.But just 10 days before the TN state meet, another setback threatened to derail everything they had worked for. Dhanalakshmi, who is sponsored by CVB Sports Academy, picked up a hamstring injury during training. “She was so scared. This was her first competition in three years, and the injury shook her confidence.

But she ended up exceeding her own expectations,” the coach said.Charting the way forward, Manikanda said: “We are eyeing the national record now. Dhana’s participation in the Indian Open, to be held in Punjab, is still uncertain and we’ll know only by Wednesday. But she will compete in the Inter-State event to be held in Chennai in August.”