Indian runner fails gender test, loses medalAssociated Press


NEW DELHI, India -- An Indian runner who won a silver medal in the women's 800 meters at the Asian Games failed a gender test and was stripped of the medal.

Shanti Sounderajan, 25, took the gender test in Doha, Qatar, after placing second.



AP Photo/M. Lakshman
Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan, who won a silver medal in the women's 800 meters at the Asian Games, failed a gender test.
The test reports sent to the Indian Olympic Association on Sunday said Soudarajan "does not possess the sexual characteristics of a woman," The Times of India reported. The test was administered by a medical commission set up by the games' organizers.

The Indian Olympic Association said Monday it has been told by the Olympic Council of Asia that the 25-year-old runner was disqualified.

"IOA has asked the Athletic Federation of India to return the medal as desired by the Olympic Council of Asia," the Indian Olympic group said.

The IOA also asked its medical commission to inquire into Sounderajan's case and report within 10 days.

There are no compulsory gender tests during events sanctioned by track and field's international ruling body, but athletes may be asked to take a gender test. The medical evaluation panel usually includes a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist and internal medicine specialist.

An Indian athletics official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said Sounderajan almost certainly never had sex-change surgery.

Instead, the official said Sounderajan appeared to have "abnormal chromosomes." The official also said the test revealed more Y chromosomes than allowed.

Sounderajan was not immediately available for comment.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

Wow, and I thought failing a drug test would be embarassing for and athlete! This has got to be rather mortifying.

Graycap23 said:

Still I bet it was the penis that gave her away

"more Y chromosomes than allowed?"

So..how many are allowed?

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say that The Indian Runner is a great movie. Thank you, that's all.

JasmineFire said:

I was laughing at that too.

how horrifying

I hope she knew there was a disorder, I mean this person's been living as a female all this time right?



this makes me sad.

JasmineFire said:

This would be below the limit.

JasmineFire said:

Right?

What makes this all the more surprising
was that the fact that
in previous years "she" always passed the test with such "flying colors".

retina said:

I clicked on this thread to see wtf kind of movie are you recommending to me!

I took a Genetics class in college umpteen years ago. Women don't have a Y chromosome. Having a Y chromosome affects hormone levels between testosterone and estrogen, physical characteristics etc.
The normal # of chromosomes for humans is 46. 23 pairs in somatic cells, of these 22 are autosomes and one is the sex chromosomes..X or Y. Each embryo has either XX, female, or XY male.(Taber's Medical Dictionary)
Maybe there's more to the story. The Y chromosome doesn't exist in females.

ZombieKitten said:

the fast runner is pretty awesome too
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285441/

xplnyrslf said:

Well, there are also all kinds of intersexual variations: XXY, XXXY, XY. Only recently have the public been informed about these, and they aren't all too uncommon either.

novabrkr said: