A female heptathlete has angrily refuted transgender claims following public accusations from a rival athlete.
Nandini Agasara, a 20-year-old pro athlete, took home a bronze medal for India in the women’s heptathlon at this year’s Asian Games on Sunday after scoring 5,712 points in the grueling event.
But her victory was soured by a rival 26-year-old Swapna Barman who also played for India but narrowly missed out on the podium after scoring 5708 points.
Barman seemingly accused Asagara of being transgender in a now-deleted social media post.
Barman, who won gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, said in her message to X, formerly Twitter: “I lost my Asian Games bronze medal to transgender women at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Nandini Agasara (pictured, right) was covertly accused of being transgender by a rival athlete
Swapna Barman (photo) narrowly missed a podium place
‘I want my medal back, because that is against the rules of our athletics. Please help me and support me. #protestforfairplay.’
Although Asagara was not directly named in the post as the target of the allegations, the bronze medalist angrily asserted her identity as a woman in an interview with India Today, telling the magazine that she would take up the matter with the Athletics Federation of India. AFI):
‘I know what I am. Ask her to show proof. I will also show that I have won the medal for India. I just want to do good for the country.
‘Now we won, so people are starting to talk about it. I will certainly discuss this matter with AFI. I wanted to enjoy the moment of winning the medal but my mother is not well to go back to India.”
Despite the controversy, Asagara’s victory was celebrated by key figures, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wrote on
She has already won two international medals at the age of 20
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Asagara’s bronze medal, calling her an ‘absolute champion’
‘She is an absolute champion, who personifies the sporting spirit and excellence. Congratulations to her and all the best for her future endeavors.”
Asagara is a relatively new athlete. The bronze at the Asian Games is her second international medal, after taking home a silver medal in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 World U20 Athletics Championships.
She has also won several national medals in India, taking home two silver medals in two years, once in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 Indian National Open Athletics Championships and at the 2021 National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships.
The furious row comes amid a global backlash against transgender athletes, as governing bodies around the world ban them from competing as the genders they identify with.
Earlier this year, transgender women were not allowed to participate in international athletics events in the women’s category.
Nandini Agasara took home a gold medal for India at the Asian Games
Swapna Barman claimed in a social media post that ‘her’ bronze medal was stolen by a transgender athlete, but quickly deleted the claims
The decision was made by World Athletics to ‘prioritize fairness and integrity of female competition before inclusion’.
Speaking about the new transgender participation rules, Sebastian Coe, chairman of the governing body, said: “The World Athletics Council has taken decisive action to protect the female category in our sport.
“The decision that the council has taken is primarily a principle-based decision and that is the overarching need to protect the female category. This is what our sport is here to do.”
Coe added at the time: “Many believe there is insufficient evidence that trans women do not retain an advantage over biological women.
“Where the science is insufficient to justify maintaining testosterone suppression for transgender athletes, the council agreed that this should be guided by our overarching principle of protecting the female category.”