The athlete wept like a woman on Monday after receiving the Rs 15 lakh reward from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
CHENNAI: S Santhi ran like a man to bag the silver medal in the 800 metres race for women at Doha last Sunday. This Monday, the athlete wept like a woman after receiving the Rs 15 lakh reward from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
He or she, Santhi has the Tamil Nadu Government solidly behind her. The Government had announced the reward after Santhi won the medal, but later a gender test found the athlete is not a woman. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi handed over the promised cheque to Santhi at the secretariat and, after hearing that the athlete’s parents could not watch the feat because they did not have a television set at home, gave away a high-definition plasma television worth Rs 1 lakh.
Santhi, dressed in dark trousers, white shirt and the official blue blazer, came to the secretariat with ‘her’ parents Soundarajan and Manimekalai around 10 am and was taken to the Chief Minister’s chamber avoiding the prying eyes of reporters. But the journos mobbed her as she was coming out. “I have not got any official intimation about taking back the medal. I have nothing more to say,” the athlete said.
When a reporter asked her point blank “male or female”, a sobbing Santhi shot back: “Will you ask this question to your sister?”
Santhi hails from a village in Tiruchi district and had fought poverty and malnutrition to become one of the leading athletes of the country. Her parents are migrants from Sri Lanka. The family makes ends meet by selling milk from two cows bought with the Rs 1 lakh the State Government had given after Santhi won the national athletic meet in 2004-2005.
Meanwhile, the Indian contingent and sports officials maintain they had no clue about Santhi’s “gender issue.” “There was no reason to doubt if Santhi was not a woman. While in Doha, nobody expressed any doubts. We have not received any official communiqué about the gender test. Such tests have been stopped since 1990 and are done only when someone raises an objection on gender grounds,” CK Valson, joint secretary of Tamil Nadu Athletics Association, told DNA.
While the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister did not issue an official statement, Sports Minister TPM Moideen Khan said “This is the time for everyone to support this young lady who has achieved this feat under trying circumstances.”
Coach, friends support Santhi
The failure of S Santhi to pass a gender test has had many athletes and friends rallying to her support. Retired athletics champ PT Usha said: “Don’t blame poor Santhi. Blame the officials for what has happened.” Her coach P Nagarajan said: “I have known her for two years. As she went to a girls school and a girls college, there was no reason to suspect her sex.” KN Priya, an international 100m hurdles champion, said: “Santhi participated in the SAF games and won medals. She went through all the tests each time. Santhi’s behaviour has never been different from any of the other girls at the academy.” Meanwhile, in Pudukkottai, Santhi’s native place, police arrested six persons for attempting to burn an effigy of Olympic Council of Asia. Police said the protestors, were expressing anger at the decision to withdraw the silver medal given to Santhi after she failed a gender test.
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