New Delhi: Middle-distance runner Sunita Rani, who has been cleared of doping charges by the International Olympic Committee, on Thursday said the decision to return her Asian Games medals was a vindication of her innocence.

"The dope charges were wrong and I was saying this from the beginning. I was upto proving myself innocent since the day the charges were labelled," said Sunita Rani, who was earlier stripped of her medals after being found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs "Nandrolone" during the Asian Games in Busan.

Indicating that she had never used the banned substance during her career, Sunita Rani, who won a gold and a bronze in Busan, said that an athlete had to work hard to be successful.

"This is a wrong notion that if you use drug you can be a top athlete. If that was so any one could be an athlete. I am working hard to perform better on tracks," she told news channel Aaj Tak.

Saying that "some people do not want India to perform well at international athletics meets", she said the athletes from the country should be prepared to take such allegations in their stride.

"There were media reports in Busan saying that 'how such a poor country like India could win so many medals?' They do not want India to perform well in such meets."

PTI