Letter from Mianne Bagger to the IOC President

From: mianne
Date: January 2, 2007 5:48:28 AM EST (CA)
Addressed To: Jacques Rogge (IOC President), Patrick Schamasch
(Director of IOC Science and Medicine), and other sports leaders
Subject: RE: Attention Mr. Rogge - Now more on Santhi Soundararajan
(AIS)

Dear Mr. Rogge

I am writing in equal protest with Kristen Worley concerning the recent
disgraceful sequence of events that transpired regarding Indian athlete,
Santhi Soundararajan, at the Asia Games. Here is a young woman who has
spent years of her life, dedicated to being the best athlete she can be,
and she accomplished something quite fantastic. The ultimate goal
.....to win, or to win a medal!

(Links to articles currently on the internet)
http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/22/stories/2006122202432100.htm
http://sport.indiatimes.com/IOC_hope_for_Santhi_Soundararajan/articleshow/903809.cms

From all available reports, she has in fact not failed a gender test due
to her reported condition of AIS. Despite this, there has been no
mention of the decision being overturned and her medal rightfully being
returned to her. As a result, her success has now been brutally stripped
from her and she has been publicly disgraced through no other reason
than the ineptitude of the athletics federation/officials that conducted
the testing, and ultimately the IOC for not taking the lead and publicly
setting examples on the issue of gender variance and natural human
diversity in sports.

Why now, has this woman been publicly disgraced and humiliated by being
labelled as 'a woman who has failed a sex test'? Not only that, it is
reported that she is now required to appeal to the IOC Medical
Commission to have this decision overturned!

The IOC needs to take a public stand, immediately, in defence of Santhi
Soundararajan, stating that she has not failed a sex test and that the
fault lies with the ignorance and prejudice of 1 or more officials at
the Asian Games. There needs to be education to come from the IOC in
explaining the circumstances, and that 'gender variant' conditions exist
naturally in human beings, and are not an issue in sport. Sport is for
ALL people.

Mistakes like this simply cannot be seen to happen again. It isn't a
mistake that can just be undone ....they ruin people's lives! The
irreparable damage has already been done to Santhi's life! Not only to
her family, friends and sporting peers, but on a global public scale!
The information that was leaked to the press was of an extremely
personal nature and NOT for public knowledge under any circumstances.
There has been no protection of the athlete whose life is concerned.

Santhi Soundararajan has done nothing wrong and she should not be in a
position to require a 'sympathetic hearing' from anyone. Does anyone
even begin to understand how humiliating this would be for her on a
personal level, and now the expectation is on her to prove her innocence
to clear her name. This should no longer be happening in sport! The IOC
cannot continue to allow this to happen and has an ethical obligation to
act responsibly over for athletes and NSO's around the world.

The IOC needs to take a stand to educate NSO's, and the public, on
issues of gender variance in sports. It is a matter of natural variation
in human form which is beyond any individual's control, and is not open
to inflexible and social definitions of gender. Yet this still becomes
an issue of someone being labelled as 'cheating' in sports, or.... as a
'man masquerading as a woman'. The IOC needs to set the example loud and
clear, and publicly.

There would also seem to be faults within the actual testing procedure
of an athlete that need immediate attention; what loop hole exists
where any official is able to name a person in relation to test results
before they are completed? The behaviour of such an official, and breach
of confidential practice, is reprehensible and such individual should be
severely reprimanded.

The sole reason for these types of tests being carried out, is for the
fear of a 'man competing in women's sports', thus having an unfair
strength advantage ....as it is with issues of doping. The whole premise
is of someone gaining an unnatural or unfair advantage over other
competitors for the purposes of winning in sports. These advantages are
gained through performance enhancing substances in varying forms -
consisting mostly of steroids or testosterone in varying forms.

It is medical fact that if someone does not have testosterone in their
body, there is a physiological inability to even retain muscle mass and
condition, let alone being able to further develop, or increase, muscle
mass. The IOC rightfully stopped sex testing at the 2000 Olympics and it
needs to ensure that sporting organisations that want to be a part of
the Olympics, follow the same rules and protocol.

Gender variance is an issue that repeatedly gets 'brushed under the
carpet' simply because it makes people uncomfortable. The sporting arena
is one where this always gets blown out of proportion and nothing is
ever done to change it. The sporting world needs to change, and the IOC
is the organisation (as the leading sports figure in the world) that
can, and should, make this happen.

Please don't allow this ignorance to continue. The issue needs to be
addressed at the highest levels of sport.

Sincerely

Mianne Bagger