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}} Santhi Soundarajan (also spelled ''Shanthi Soundararajan'',(タミル語:சாந்தி சௌந்திரராஜன்), born April 1981) is an Indian track and field athlete. She is the winner of 11 international medals for India and around 50 medals for her home state Tamil Nadu. Soundarajan is the first Tamil woman to win a medal at Asian Games. She competes in the middle distance track events. She was stripped of a silver medal won at the 2006 Asian Games after failing a gender verification test, disputing her eligibility to participate in the women's competition. ==Early life and career== Santhi Soundarajan was born in 1981 in the village of Kathakkurichi in Pudukkottai District of Tamil Nadu, India. Soundarajan is from the lowest caste in India, the Dalits, who were previously known as the untouchables. Soundarajan grew up in a 20-by-5 hut across the road from the new home she lives in now. There was no bathroom or outhouse, no running water or electricity.She is one of five children of brick-kiln labourers in a rural village in southern Tamil Nadu state, she overcame malnutrition as a child to become a middle-distance runner.Her family could not even afford a television and watched Santhi's Doha race at a neighbour's house.〔http://zeenews.india.com/sports/others/santhi-scandal-an-insult-to-all-tamils_343116.html〕 Her mother and father had to go to another town to work in a brickyard, where they earned the equivalent of $4 a week. While they were gone, Santhi, the oldest, was in charge of taking care of her four siblings. Sometimes, Soundarajan's grandfather, an accomplished runner, helped while her parents were away. When she was 13, he taught her to run on an open stretch of dirt outside the hut and bought her a pair of shoes. At her first competition, in eighth grade, Soundarajan won a tin cup; she collected 13 more at interschool competitions. The sports coach at a nearby high school took note of her performances and recruited her. The school paid her tuition and provided her with a uniform and hot lunches. It was the first time Soundarajan had ever eaten three meals a day. After high school, Soundarajan got a scholarship from a Arts college in Pudukkottai, the nearest town. and the following year, Soundarajan transferred to a college in Chennai, the state's capital, seven hours away. In 2005 she attended the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea, where she won a silver medal. In 2006, she was chosen to represent India at the Asian Games (run by the Olympic Council of Asia). In the 800 meters, Soundarajan took the silver in 2 minutes, 3.16 seconds, beating Viktoriya Yalovtseva of Kazakhstan by 0.03. This win lead to Soundarajan becoming embroiled in an ongoing, unresolved debate over what makes an athlete female enough to compete as a woman.〔http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/8192977/failed-gender-test-forces-olympian-redefine-athletic-career-espn-magazine〕 Soundarajan holds the national record for the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase clocking 10:44.65 seconds. At a national meet in Bangalore in July 2005 she won the 800m, 1,500m and 3000m. She won the silver medal in 800 m at the 2005 Asian Championships in Incheon, South Korea. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Santhi Soundarajan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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