‘Y’ One Athlete Lost Her Silver Medal

An Indian woman who finished second in the 800 meters race at the Asian Games recently was stripped of her medal. Why? She failed a gender test.

According to the AP news story, the Olympic Council of Asia disqualified the 25-year-old runner, Santhi Soundarajan, after a post-race gender test revealed more Y chromosomes than were allowed. An Indian athletics official insisted that Soundarajan never had a sex-change operation.

What I want to know is how many Y chromosomes are allowed before an athlete is disqualified? And why did Asian Games officials request that Soundarajan take the gender test? What made them suspicious? Inquiring minds want to know.