India’s champion heptathlete Swapna Barman has leveled grave allegations after losing the bronze medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games to fellow Indian Nandini Agasara.
Swapna Barman has accused Nandini Agasara of being a ‘transgender’. “I have lost my Asian Games bronze medal to a transgender women 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. #protestforfairplay“, Barman tweeted after losing to Nandini by just 4 points in the women’s heptathlon event to finish fourth.
Telangana’s Nandini Agasara went ahead of Swapna in the 800m race in the women’s heptathlon event. The 20-year-old Nandini finished with an overall total of 5712 points, her personal best so far. Before the 800m race, Nandini had also won the 200m race, which got her 936 points.
Standing on the podium with her bronze medal, an emotional Nandini dedicated her feat to her late father, a tea seller who had nurtured his daughter’s dream through his meager earnings. Nandini stated, “He raised me, he did everything for me. But I lost him last December.”
Nandini finished third in the long jump, sealing the bronze medal.
Swapna Barman, India’s start heptathlete who had won the 2018 Asian Games Gold, finished fourth with 5708 points. She lost the bronze medal by just 4 points. China’s Zheng Ninali claimed the gold medal with a season-best score of 6149 while Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Voronina placed second with 6056 points.
Swapna Barman made headlines after she clinched the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games in a stunning performance. She had a pain patch on her face due to a bad toothache and did not have proper shoes to fit her six-toes feet. Despite physical difficulties and a life of struggle through poverty, Barman had overcome all odds to win gold for India in the Jakarta Asian Games.