Days after accusing compatriot Nandini Agasara of being a ‘transgender’ after the latter had won a bronze medal at the Asian Games heptathlon event, veteran Swapna Barman on Thursday issued an unconditional apology for her outburst.
Swapna, a gold medallist in the 2018 Asian Games, on Monday failed to defend her title in Hangzhou and finished fourth, with Nandini pipping her for the bronze medal with 5712 points, two more than Swapna’s.
In the aftermath, Swapna took to social media venting out against Nandini, whom she had accused of being a transgender athlete and that the medal should be stripped from her.
“I have lost my Asian Games bronze medal to 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,” Swapna had posted on X, formerly Twitter, before deleting it on October 2.
However, in a U-turn, the veteran Bengal athlete on Thursday issued an apology, and termed her act as a ‘momentous emotional outburst’.
“I wish to tender my unconditional apology for my tweet the other day specially to my co-athlete was the sheer disappointment and momentous emotional outburst which made me react in this manner against the ethos of sports and deeply feels sorry everyone for my emotional reaction,” Swapna clarified.