NEW DELHI-Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan was on Tuesday officially stripped of her Asian Games silver medal for what the Olympic Council of Asia said was a “Games rule violation.”

Indian officials had said on Monday that Soundarajan, who won the women’s 800m silver at Doha, had failed a gender verification test carried out by the organiser’s medical committee.

Viktoriya Yalovtseva of Kazakhstan, who won the 800m bronze, will now be awarded the silver medal and fourth-placed Zamira Amirova of Uzbekistan the bronze. The event was won by Maryam Jussuf Jamal of Bahrain.

Indian Olympic chief Manmohan Singh told reporters on Monday: “Santhi was subjected to a gender test in Doha and we have received the report which says she failed the test.”

The panel to decide gender cases comprises among others, a gynaecologist, an endocrinologist, a psychologist and a genetic expert. A range of tests, including a blood test, are carried out.

AFP