Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

A letdown

The failing of gender test by S. Santhi, winner of the silver medal in the Doha Asian Games, is a letdown not only for the athlete but for all Indians who were proud of her performance. It is highly embarrassing to have a winner being stripped of her medal. Let us hope she clears the charges during a review after two years and bags more medals, forgetting the nightmare.

G. Jagannadh,
Anantapur

It is the Athletics Federation of India that is to blame. Despite knowing that Santhi failed a gender test conducted by the railway authorities when she applied for a job, it permitted her to participate in the Doha Asian Games in the women's category, which has led to the embarrassment.

R.S. Shanmuganathan,
Sriharikota

It is not as if Santhi woke up one fine morning and found that she was famous. She participated in many local athletic meets before being selected for the big events at the national and international level.

One wonders how the gender issue went unnoticed all these days. Or is it a case of deliberately looking the other way?

P.U. Krishnan,
Udhagamandalam

The news of Santhi's failure is shocking. The serious lapses in the AFI's selection process should be dealt with strictly to avoid embarrassment to the country and to the individual.

R. Ponnarassi,
Vellore

Why can sports officials not conduct gender tests before the start of the event? Conducting drug tests after the event is understandable but gender tests can be done before the event.

The role of the media in the Santhi episode left much to be desired. Instead of sympathising with the young athlete, they appeared to celebrate the news. Spare a thought for the hapless Santhi. She certainly deserves an understanding gesture.

N. Kannan,
Chennai

The manner in which the visual media hyped the episode was unfair to poor Santhi. It only added insult to injury. When will our media learn to downplay such shameful incidents that have an impact on our image?

V. Venkataraman,
Chennai

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