Swapna Barman finished 4th in Women’s Heptathlon© Screen grab
India’s heptathlon athlete, Swapna Barman, couldn’t defend her title in the Asian Games 2023, finishing in the 4th position, just 4 points behind fellow Indian Nandini Agasara. In the process, Nandini bagged the bronze medal in the women’s heptathlon event while the defending champion Swapna had to return home empty-handed. However, Swapna triggered a controversy on social media as she claimed that the athlete that won bronze is a ‘transgender’, who can’t participate in the event. However, Swapna later deleted her post.
As per the rules of World Athletics regulations which came into effect from March 31 this year, every single athlete who has gone through what has been defined as ‘male puberty’ by World Athletics is barred from competing in female world ranking events.
Swapna Told The Bridge, “Transgender athletes, who have testosterone levels above 2.5, cannot compete in events over 200 meters. No girl can come up in a heptathlon so fast. I have trained for 13 years in this, it is impossible that she trains for four months and gets to this level.”
Athletics fans on Twitter, however, weren’t too happy seeing this India vs India battle unfolding in the Hangzhou Asian Games.
After winning the bronze medal, Nandini gave a special thanks to the government of India
“It is because of the support given to me by the Athletics Federation of India and the government of India that I have been able to come this far. I thank each and everyone who supported me, especially the government of India for this medal. Thank you each and everyone who supported me,” she said after winning the medal.
While Swapna has already urged the authorities to help her case, it would be interesting to see how the saga unfolds considering the bronze medal-winning athlete in the event is also an Indian.
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