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Barman alleges she lost bronze medal to 'transgender' athlete
The 26-year-old defending champion finished her event with 5708 points on Sunday behind China's Zheng (6149 points), Ekaterina (6056 points), and Agasara (5712)
A day after being pipped to the podium by compatriot Nandini Agasara, heptathlete Swapna Barman alleged the latter to be a transgender and demanded her fourth place be upgraded to a bronze.
The 26-year-old defending champion finished her event with 5708 points on Sunday behind China's Ninali Zheng (6149 points), Voronina Ekaterina (6056 points), and Nandini (5712). She topped the 800m race, the final event of the heptathlon, to sneak ahead of Barman and ensure a maiden podium. Besides the 800m event, Nandini won the 200m, which earned her 936 points.
Spread across two days, Heptahlon comprises of seven events -- 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin throw, 800m -- and points are awarded for each event. The final tally is the summation of points accrued from seven events.
On Monday morning, Barman took to X to tweet "I have lost my Asian Games bronze medal to a transgender woman at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. I want my medal back as it is against the rules of our Athletics. Help me and support me please," she tweeted.
She deleted the tweet a few hours later.
"Everyone who follows athletics will know that no girl can come up in heptathlon so fast. I have trained for 13 years in this discipline and it is impossible that she trains for four months and gets to this level. I don't wish to comment any further on this," Barman, a three-time Asian Championships medallist, said.
"She wasn’t selected for the Asian Championships either and I thought she wasn’t picked for the Asian Games as well. I was surprised to see her entry in my event."
Nandini refuted the allegations and challenged Barman to prove her claim. She added that she will also take up the matter with the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
"Please ask her to show proof. I will take it up with the federation. I am leaving for India as my mother is not well," she said from the airport.
"Whenever someone gets success, people start speaking all sorts of things. Why didn't she ever object earlier?" Nandini, whose Sunday's bronze came with a personal best score, added.
As per World Athletics regulations which came into effect from March 31 this year, trans female athletes who have been through male puberty are not allowed to participate in female elite level competitions.
A top AFI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the heptathlete will be asked to explain her conduct after reaching India.
