Monday, December 18, 2006

"...does not possess the sexual characteristics of a woman"

Intriguing story out of this month's Asian Games.
An Indian runner who won a silver medal in the women's 800 meters in the Asian Games this month has failed a gender test and is expected to be stripped of the medal, according to reports Monday.

Santhi Soudarajan took the gender test in Doha, Qatar, after the victory. 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.

There are no compulsory gender tests during events sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federation, but athletes can be asked to take a gender test. The medical evaluation panel usually includes a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, and an internal medicine specialist.

The article makes no mention of the specifics of the test. It also gives no explanation as to how one calls for a gender test to take place. There is, unfortunately, no picture of Soudarajan accompanying the article.

More: Here (including a picture of the athlete).

2 comments:

  1. Weird. Truly weird. My guess is that such a test is completely conclusive. But you know, not allowing men and women to compete against each other is completely sexist anyway.

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  2. Matt,

    Did you notice that Tim Challies did a post on this yesterday? He brought in the "sexist" angle that I commented about. I was just thinking that between you and I there lives the genius of Challies. Isn't that encouraging?

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