Advertisement

Updated August 9th, 2021 at 16:00 IST

SAI drops sole woman athlete Sameeha Barwin from World Deaf Athletics Championship: Report

The sports authority of India will not allow a hearing impairment female athlete to compete as will be the only female among the five other male athletes.  

Reported by: Anwesha Majumdar
SAI
Credit: Twitter | Image:self
Advertisement

As the curtain fell for the 16 days long Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, it was quite evident that the entire Nation was encouraging as well as cheering all the women athletes who represented India. Yet hypocritically, a hearing impairment female athlete from the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu has reportedly been pulled off from competing in the 4th World Deaf Athletics Championships, which will be held in Poland from August 23 to 28.  

As per reports, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) dismissed Sameeha Barwin, the sole female athlete amongst the Indian athletes who were qualified at the national trials. The decision was taken as they were reluctant to send a female athlete alone to Poland with five other male athletes.  

From the age of 12, Sameeha started competing in the long jump and 100-meter track athlete. The 18-year-old has a 90% hearing impairment. With enormous tenacity and hard work, Sameeha is a three times national gold medalist in deaf athletic championships which were held in Jharkhand (2017), Chennai (2018), and Calicut (2019). She has also established a new world record in the 100-metre dash, breaking the previous record set in 1986.        

Achievements of Sameeha Barwin

Earlier in July 2019, Sameeha broke the 5m milestone during the trials in New Delhi surpassing the qualifying mark of 4.25m in the women's long jump category. Later, on July 16, 2021, the All India Sports Council for the Deaf (AISCD) announced national selection trials for the World Deaf Athletics Championships. Twelve hearing-impaired athletes were called for this, including two female athletes which one being Sameeha. The other female athlete was not chosen for the Poland championships at the tryout on July 22. The SAI apparently chose to remove Sameeha's name because she was the only female athlete who made the cut for the championships. 

After the incident, her family member has done several efforts to include her name but nothing mattered. Later, the Member of Parliament for Kanyakumari V Vijayakumar wrote to Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on July 26 demanding to add her name in the Poland group as she is deserving. In his letter, Vijayakumar also indicated that funding that might have to supply for the athlete's trip. 

Funding is required as Sameeha's family owns a little coffee shop in Kanyakumari's Kadaiyaalumoodu and is completely in the midst of a financial crisis. 

(Image Credit: Twitter)

Advertisement

Published August 9th, 2021 at 16:00 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo