Even while the whole country is cheering the achievements of Indian women athletes at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, a female athlete with hearing impairment from the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu with an outstanding track record has been dropped from participating at the 4th World Deaf Athletics Championships to be held from August 23-28 in Poland.
Sameeha Barwin, being the only female sports person among the Indian athletes who were selected during the national trials, was allegedly dropped by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as it was unwilling to send a female athlete alone with five male athletes to Poland.
The 18-year-old Sameeha, who has 90% hearing impairment, is a long jump and 100-metre track athlete who had been competing since the age of 12. Sameeha has won gold medals at three national athletic championships for deaf athletes held in Jharkhand in 2017, Chennai in 2018 and Calicut in 2019.
Speaking to TNM, Salamath, Sameeha’s mother says that Sameeha has broken the 1986 record set in 100 metre track, and although she initially was against her daughter pursuing sports she later agreed as Sameeha was good. “My daughter is an excellent athlete. And the federation has wronged Sameeha by dropping her for such silly reasons. More than anything, I am now fighting for her dignity,” says Salamath.
News Source : Op India
