She should’ve studied harder

Indian athlete fails gender test

A top Indian woman athlete who won a silver medal at a recent regional championship has failed a gender test, officials say.

Santhi Soundararajan, who took the silver in the women’s 800m race at the Asian Games in Doha, is likely to be stripped of her award, reports say.

Soundararajan, 25, was declared the best athlete at an Indian championship in the capital, Delhi, this year.

“Santhi was subjected to a gender test in Doha and we have received the report which says she failed the test,” said Manmohan Singh, chairman of the Indian Olympic Association’s Medical Commission.KP Mohan, a sports journalist, said athletes are usually examined by a team of doctors, including a gynaecologist, endocrinologist and psychologist, and put through physical and clinical examinations during a gender test.

The test was done soon after Soundararajan came second in the women’s 800m race on 9 December.

Reports say the athlete cleared the gender test at the Asian track and field championship in South Korea last year where she won the silver medal in the 800m.

It is not clear how she failed the test at the Asian Games in Doha.

Conversely, one could just as easily say that it is not clear how she passed the gender test in South Korea.