Born in Siddapura, Udupi, Kundapura taluk, Udupi district, Karnataka, she was raised in a Tulu-speaking family to her mother, Yashoda Shetty Akkunji and father, B.R. Chidananda Shetty.[6][7] Ashwini hails from an agriculturist family.[8] with a sporting legacy.[9] She grew up on her family's 5 acre farmland amidst Areca nut plantations along with her elder siblings a sister, Dipti and a brother, Amith.[10] Earlier, Ashwini was employed with the Indian Railways, and as a manager in Corporation bank in Patiala, Punjab[11] and presently works as a coach in Sports Authority of India Bangalore.[12]
Doping
In July 2011 prior to Asian athletics championships in Kobe (Japan) she tested positive for anabolic steroids.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]
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).[16] 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.[17][18][19][20]
