BBC: Indian athlete fails gender test

From BBC: Indian athlete fails gender test:

A top Indian woman athlete who won a silver medal at a recent regional championship has failed a gender test, officials say.

Santhi Soundararajan, who took the silver in the women's 800m race at the Asian Games in Doha, has been stripped of her medal, reports say.

Soundararajan, 25, was declared the best athlete at an Indian championship in the capital, Delhi, this year.

In 1999, a woman in an Indian state football team failed a gender test.

Not mandatory

"Santhi was subjected to a gender test in Doha and we have received the report which says she failed the test," said Manmohan Singh, chairman of the Indian Olympic Association's Medical Commission.

The test is not mandatory, but is carried out if officials want it or a rival team protests, reports say.

The test was carried out soon after Soundararajan came second in the women's 800m race on 9 December.

Reports say the athlete cleared the gender test at the Asian track and field championship in South Korea last year where she won the silver medal in the 800m. It is not clear how she failed the test at the Asian Games in Doha.

Oh, BBC. How you entertain me so.

Edit: I've just noticed that this article is from 18 December 2006. Nevertheless, it's still funny.

Update: It turns out that Santhi underwent a sex change operation, and that previous athletes in the same situation have been allowed to compete as their gender of choice (Source: Hindustan Times)