Indian gender challenged athlete Santhi prays Semenya doesn’t get suicidal like her
September 20th, 2009 - 12:39 pm ICT by ANILondon, Sep 20 (ANI): Considering her bitter experience after she failed her gender test, Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan prays that South Africa’s champion runner Caster Semenya doesn’t considers suicide.
Soundarajan failed a gender test after finishing second in the women’s 800-meter race at the 2006 Asian Games and was forced to return her silver medal.
Semenya, the 800-metre world champion who is also going through the same type of test to prove that she is eligible to compete as a woman, is facing the same future.
“I pray that Semenya does not go through what I’ve been through, it almost drove me to committing suicide,” the Sunday Express quoted Soundarajan, as saying.
“I’ve suffered immensely due to the stigma of the failed gender test,” she added
Soundarajan, who came from a poor family, was forced to drop out of competitive athletics after she failed the gender test.
Finding a job and earning enough money to eat then became a daily struggle. Semenya also comes from a poor background, but she managed to win the world 800m in one minute 55.45 seconds.
“With so much of the workload athletes go through, there will be hormonal changes. It’s bound to happen. The authorities should bear this in mind. I cannot forget what I had to go through after my medal was taken back. I hail from a poor family and no one would give me a job,” Soundarajan said.
“My entire family suffered as people began looking at me with a jaundiced eye,” she added. (ANI)
- Help coming way of Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan - Jul 25, 2012
- Olympic athletics: Tintu Luka fails to qualify for 800m final - Aug 10, 2012
- Santhi Soundarajan stripped of medal over gender - Aug 21, 2009
- Caster Semenya's Test Results To Be Revealed In Novemeber By IAAF - Sep 12, 2009
- Caster Semenya to take part in Commonwealth Games - Aug 23, 2010
- Rivals 'stared and laughed at' Proteas' Semenya, claims UK athlete - Jul 23, 2010
- 'It's like racing a man', says Semenya's Brit rival after Berlin race - Aug 23, 2010
- Semenya's gender tested unknown to her: mother - Sep 13, 2009
- Kenya's Jepkosgei eyes another Olympic medal in London - May 04, 2012
- Caster Semenya a woman? Prove it - Aug 20, 2009
- After World Cup, runner Semenya is South Africa's hope - Jul 12, 2010
- Caster Semenya wins comeback race in Finland - Jul 16, 2010
- S. African athlete Semenya tries to gloss over gender controversy - Sep 09, 2009
- Amputee Pistorius, Semenya to compete in World Athletics - Aug 08, 2011
- Caster Semenya plans to make 1,500m bid in 2012 Olympics - Feb 22, 2011
Tags: 800m, asian games, athlete, bitter experience, caster, committing suicide, daily struggle, enough money, finding a job, gender test, hormonal changes, indian runner, jaundiced eye, meter race, poor background, silver medal, south africa, stigma, sunday express, world champion