Exploring the Harsh Realities Female Athletes Face: A Deep Dive into Olympics 2024

[00:00:08] Kiran, I'm damn upset this morning. Vinesh Fokat has retired saying that,

[00:00:12] wrestling won and I've lost.

[00:00:16] I don't think she's lost. I think she was a fighter. She asked for the 53 kg category.

[00:00:22] She didn't get it. She went from 55 to 50, which is a tough call.

[00:00:26] It was a very tough one.

[00:00:27] And she managed to get it down for the first bout. She couldn't get it down for the second bout,

[00:00:32] despite everything. But I think, I don't know why the call was taken to put her in 50.

[00:00:37] I know why the call was taken. The call was taken because they thought it was easier for her.

[00:00:43] No, no, no. You know Pangal, what's her name? Antim Pangal.

[00:00:48] So you can send only one athlete in every weight quota category.

[00:00:54] Antim Pangal had made it, had got a bronze in the last sporting event. I forget which one it was.

[00:01:03] So she qualified for the 53 kg category. That means that the slot was taken.

[00:01:09] Okay, therefore they could not send her.

[00:01:11] Because you can send only one athlete from a country per weight category.

[00:01:16] And so this girl had to now try for the 50, which was 5 kilos below her weight.

[00:01:22] In any case her standard weight is 57. And to reduce it to 50 further, just so that you can compete in the Olympics.

[00:01:29] And reach the semi-finals, then the finals.

[00:01:32] She beat the 4 time world champion and the Tokyo gold medalist.

[00:01:37] And made her lose her undefeated streak. And then this happens to her.

[00:01:43] And then all, I mean what I find funny is that there's a human element in sports, right?

[00:01:48] And I'm sure rules are there for a reason.

[00:01:51] The problem is that on any given day, Kiran, if you weigh yourself twice in the same day, your weight will vary.

[00:01:58] Yes, absolutely.

[00:01:59] She was under 50 kgs in the morning. She won 3 back to back bouts.

[00:02:07] She ate one meal. She must have consumed some fluids as well.

[00:02:12] She became 52 plus. All night this woman has skipped, jumped, sat in sauna.

[00:02:19] Sat in?

[00:02:20] Exercised in sauna.

[00:02:21] Exercised in sauna. Can you imagine what brutality she had to put her body through and then to cut her hair because of that 100 grams.

[00:02:28] And also blood let out.

[00:02:30] Is that true? I read about it.

[00:02:31] I read about it. I don't know if it's true, but that's what I've read too. That blood was let out in order to reduce her weight.

[00:02:37] But it didn't go beyond 50.1.

[00:02:41] And you know, it really gets my goat when trolls on social media.

[00:02:46] Someone was picking a fight with me and saying, get a grip on your emotions.

[00:02:51] When I said, look, she's in the hospital right now because of acute dehydration.

[00:02:57] Let's hope when she comes back to India, we can give her lots of endorsements and lots of awards to just cheer her up and let her know that she's a true lioness.

[00:03:07] And for us, she is a winner, a champ.

[00:03:09] He says, get a grip. She's only dehydrated, not like she came under an avalanche.

[00:03:15] I wrote to the guy saying, you only wish people well if they come under an avalanche.

[00:03:19] She did this for the country and let's not forget what she had gone through before she reached here.

[00:03:25] In 2023, she was on the streets along with Sakshi Malik and the other wrestlers.

[00:03:30] And for what?

[00:03:31] And protesting against somebody who had apparently sexually harassed them.

[00:03:38] But the thing is, I know it's allegedly until proven Kiren, but there was Sakshi Malik and there was her.

[00:03:44] Bhavita Fogat.

[00:03:45] So there was Bhajan Punya, there was Fogat and there was Sakshi Malik.

[00:03:50] Does the government need some photographic or, you know, wherever this quota of inquiry was set up, do they need photographic proof to take swift action?

[00:04:00] In Jan is when they went on this protest.

[00:04:03] Do you know, in May, when Brij Bhushan stepped down, it wasn't because of this.

[00:04:10] It was because his tenure was over.

[00:04:13] It was because his tenure was over.

[00:04:15] I didn't know that. I only found out when I was reading up on it.

[00:04:18] But you know, Shonali, it's like Orville said, you know, all animals are created equal.

[00:04:23] Some are created more equal than others.

[00:04:24] Anybody else with so many people accusing them of sexual molestation would have been behind bars without a second, without inquiry.

[00:04:32] I'm not just anybody.

[00:04:33] I mean, I know that in this country a lot of politicians have rape and murder charges against them and they go on to win elections and rule over states.

[00:04:43] But the point I'm making is that these are people who have brought our country honor.

[00:04:49] They're not just somebody off the street saying that I have suffered sexual exploitation or harassment.

[00:04:57] At the end of the day, we all know that the woman's word is very fragile because A, the courage it takes you to speak up and then the resilience you need to bounce back when you are not believed and you're not taken seriously and action is not taken against a perpetrator.

[00:05:12] It's across.

[00:05:13] Wait, did she get B.T. Usha's support?

[00:05:15] No, no, she did not.

[00:05:17] Not at that point because nobody is willing to rock the boat.

[00:05:19] Nobody's willing to take it.

[00:05:21] Everyone's looking out for themselves.

[00:05:22] Absolutely.

[00:05:23] Which was why the curiosity to see what would happen when she won gold because if and when she won gold.

[00:05:28] But sadly now this has unfolded and it makes me wonder what kind of a mental state she must be in and what does it take to be an athlete or a sports person at that level?

[00:05:38] Kiran, at any level, I'll tell you something.

[00:05:41] I was watching Novak's match just two days ago on Sunday.

[00:05:46] How beautifully played against Carlos who is 21.

[00:05:50] Novak is 37, 38.

[00:05:52] And they said that despite all the injuries and all the physical challenges that a sportsman of that age has had to endure, he clearly his mind is strong enough to overcome all of those challenges to defeat somebody so young who's also a top seed.

[00:06:16] Right?

[00:06:17] Yes.

[00:06:18] So this is Novak and we are talking of world stage.

[00:06:21] My younger daughter Rania is an athlete and nowhere in the league of Sakshi Malik's of the world, right?

[00:06:30] There are days when she returns from school and she is severely exhausted because it's been a long day at school.

[00:06:35] She's played basketball at school.

[00:06:38] There's a sat preparation going on.

[00:06:40] She may have a ballet class the same day, but she says, Mama, I need to go for my running practice.

[00:06:45] And I as a mother, obviously because I've never been an athlete.

[00:06:48] I feel bad.

[00:06:49] I said, no, today I think you should take it easy.

[00:06:51] She said, No, I will go.

[00:06:52] So I'm saying day after day after day to show up.

[00:06:56] I've been a sports mom.

[00:06:58] My son was at the States for swimming.

[00:07:00] Oh, that's right.

[00:07:01] My husband was an Asian level swimmer.

[00:07:05] So just to give you a glimpse of the mindset of a sports person.

[00:07:09] I met my husband when I was 19.

[00:07:11] He was 19.

[00:07:13] He had stopped swimming competitively then.

[00:07:15] I have never seen him get into a pool except, you know, when recreational purposes, whatever.

[00:07:20] When my son started swimming, we went for a tournament for an event.

[00:07:24] And this man had been out till three the previous night drinking with his spouse.

[00:07:28] This event was on a Sunday morning.

[00:07:30] We were at the pool 7 a.m sharp.

[00:07:33] He was still reeking of the alcohol.

[00:07:36] Fumes of alcohol.

[00:07:38] So one of his ex coaches or swimmers, somebody was anchoring the entire event.

[00:07:44] He spotted him.

[00:07:45] He said you have to swim in the seniors.

[00:07:47] He said I can't.

[00:07:48] I haven't swum in years, decades actually.

[00:07:51] I haven't swum at all.

[00:07:52] I haven't trained.

[00:07:53] I haven't done anything.

[00:07:54] No, nothing doing.

[00:07:55] We'll find your costume.

[00:07:56] We'll find your cap.

[00:07:57] You have to swim.

[00:07:58] This man, very overweight at that point, clambered onto the board with other competitors

[00:08:06] who are training every day.

[00:08:10] And when he jumped, the water just parted and he came second.

[00:08:18] Amazing.

[00:08:19] Why did he come second?

[00:08:20] Because he said, I couldn't let myself lose with the others.

[00:08:27] So it's that mind frame you're saying that's stronger.

[00:08:29] The body is not trained.

[00:08:30] The muscle memory must be there.

[00:08:32] But then mindset that you have to win and you have to do it,

[00:08:35] which is why it annoys me when some people seemingly give up in the games.

[00:08:40] You know, if they're playing at the highest competitive level and their mind can't handle it,

[00:08:47] you have to be steel iron Lokhand as they say.

[00:08:51] Everyone is different.

[00:08:52] Simone Biles, when she opted out of midway through Tokyo after Tokyo Olympics.

[00:08:57] My God, the kind of heat she got in America.

[00:09:00] Yeah, because so many hopes are pinned on now for medals.

[00:09:03] Yeah, but I'm just saying that they are all this is what I'm saying.

[00:09:06] Sports is sports, but there should be a human element.

[00:09:09] She felt that there's a particular kind of a twisty that gymnasts do.

[00:09:15] And what happens is that it can be disorienting.

[00:09:18] And if you're disoriented once while you're twisting and going in the loops,

[00:09:23] then it's a thing about not just your mind, it's your brain, eye, body coordination.

[00:09:29] And if you feel that you're sort of not being able to manage it,

[00:09:34] it's a psychological thing, right?

[00:09:35] You know that you won't be able to perform as you should.

[00:09:39] So then at that point she steps down and Jordan Childs goes to represent her.

[00:09:47] I think she wanted to probably come back with the medals she could.

[00:09:50] That's why she didn't want to lose.

[00:09:53] Which is fine.

[00:09:54] Which is fine.

[00:09:55] But I'm saying that as much as sports is about mental resilience,

[00:09:58] the individual's capacity to deal with stress and pressure is different.

[00:10:03] What is an unfair expectation?

[00:10:06] There isn't an unfair expectation.

[00:10:09] It is a given that when you get into sport,

[00:10:12] you have to be 10 times more resilient than a regular human being.

[00:10:16] It is part and parcel of it.

[00:10:19] You can't get into, for us, we can't become writers unless we are okay with rejection.

[00:10:24] If you can't deal with it, you can't be in the profession.

[00:10:27] This is part and parcel of it.

[00:10:29] I'm glad that Simone Biles took the time out to focus on her mental health.

[00:10:33] So many of them have spoken about their mental, about depression, about anxiety,

[00:10:38] about all these things.

[00:10:39] When you acknowledge it and when you face it and when you deal with it and come to this arena,

[00:10:44] that's lovely.

[00:10:45] But to get into the arena, for instance...

[00:10:49] Suneeli actually, 19 year old, an incurable kidney disease.

[00:10:56] Her father, a few years ago, I think in 2019, who is a greatest champion,

[00:11:05] fell off the stairs while bringing something out from some upper shelf of the closet

[00:11:11] and part of his body was paralyzed forever.

[00:11:14] I don't know what nerve he hit or whatever.

[00:11:16] Her father, in that state of paralysis, was motivating her for the Tokyo Olympics.

[00:11:24] Because of his condition and because of the post pandemic risks, he couldn't travel with her.

[00:11:32] And on his phone calls with Zoom or whatever he used to encourage his daughter.

[00:11:37] This was the second Olympic.

[00:11:41] And she said that there were so many times where I thought about quitting and just giving up

[00:11:46] because I was so sick.

[00:11:47] She had two types of kidney diseases, incurable.

[00:11:50] And it was just so hard to stay motivated watching everybody get better while I know that I just cannot get better at all.

[00:11:57] And I was doubting myself because for me, even to get back to the gym was a challenge.

[00:12:02] And imagine that she says people around me lifted me up and convinced me that I could do it.

[00:12:09] And that's how I could do it.

[00:12:10] I'm saying she has overcome a serious physical disability to be an athlete.

[00:12:15] People in Paralympics overcome, like the Afghan athlete, what's her name?

[00:12:22] The Paralympic.

[00:12:24] We have our own Deepa Malik.

[00:12:26] I think you've also interviewed her for something, haven't you?

[00:12:31] Yeah, a very long time back.

[00:12:32] But what a story.

[00:12:33] I mean, not just did she become an athlete, she also went to the top of mountains with a specially modified chair.

[00:12:40] I just can't get.

[00:12:41] I can't go on top of a mountain on my own feet.

[00:12:44] Zakia Khuda Dadi, here at Taekwondo Paralympian.

[00:12:48] Yeah, she's the one.

[00:12:50] And there's also Kima Yousafi from Afghanistan.

[00:12:56] But she doesn't have physical challenges.

[00:12:58] But Zakia Khuda Dadi is a Paralympian.

[00:13:01] She doesn't have one limb and she competed in even these Olympics.

[00:13:06] So yes, I think sport is about mental strength.

[00:13:10] You know, we're talking about athletes with disabilities.

[00:13:16] We also need to talk about something that women athletes go through, which male athletes don't go through.

[00:13:21] Which is pregnancy.

[00:13:23] Pregnancy and menstrual periods.

[00:13:25] Periods are taken for granted.

[00:13:26] I so often wonder when I was a swim mom, how they functioned and how they swam.

[00:13:31] What if you have pain and there's something called a period brain?

[00:13:35] Yeah, but you just work through it.

[00:13:37] You work through it.

[00:13:38] There's no two ways.

[00:13:39] But pregnancy is a different ball game altogether.

[00:13:41] We have Serena Williams who competed and won a grand slam when she was pregnant.

[00:13:46] I mean, that was beyond incredible.

[00:13:50] We have in this current Olympics, a fencer and an archer.

[00:13:55] Archer.

[00:13:56] Who competed when they were seven months pregnant, six months pregnant.

[00:13:59] And the archer says like, I felt my baby kick and I took a shot and I got 10.

[00:14:04] So we were both competing together.

[00:14:06] This is something I think the kind of mental strength that you have to compete in a sport at the world level.

[00:14:13] While your bodily feminine functions.

[00:14:16] I mean, I couldn't walk for a minute without keeling over and falling your whole center.

[00:14:21] Gravity changes when you're pregnant.

[00:14:23] That's why we're told not to wear jeans.

[00:14:25] And fencing requires you have to be nimble on your feet.

[00:14:28] And archery? Focus.

[00:14:30] And focus.

[00:14:31] You have brain fog when you're pregnant.

[00:14:33] Imagine if you try less hiccups while you're.

[00:14:35] And decides to kick you while just taking the shot.

[00:14:38] Gone, it's over.

[00:14:39] Amazing. What mental makeup.

[00:14:41] So much admiration.

[00:14:43] Absolutely.

[00:14:44] And the other thing is when women athletes do get pregnant, there's the risk they take of not being able to get back to their sport.

[00:14:50] We have very few like Mary-Com who can get back.

[00:14:53] Then we had Alison Felix, who was then a six time Olympic gold winner.

[00:15:00] Decided to start a family in 2018.

[00:15:03] Was renewing her sponsorship with Nike.

[00:15:06] And Nike said take a 70% cut.

[00:15:08] She fought it.

[00:15:10] And luckily Nike bent it, cowed down or decided to change their policies.

[00:15:16] Do male athletes ever face this?

[00:15:19] See, one is the societal construct to first even get to the point of being an athlete, say for somebody like the Fogat sisters.

[00:15:27] Absolutely. Look at what they faced.

[00:15:29] You watch Dungal, even if people don't know about Fogats.

[00:15:32] They watched Dungal I'm sure.

[00:15:34] And it's wrestling in particular was a male domain at least in India and for girls to become wrestlers.

[00:15:42] Deal with the you know being held to scrutiny by see the immediate society where they have to live, marry, thrive whatever.

[00:15:51] One is that.

[00:15:53] And the other is that.

[00:15:56] At least until a certain time, the Indian government wasn't making it any easier for athletes to compete.

[00:16:03] So one is you overcome prejudices and societal constructs and your bodily limitations.

[00:16:08] So called limitations and functions to get to that platform.

[00:16:14] The other is that you have you're doing it despite the government.

[00:16:19] Yes, but now things have changed.

[00:16:22] Things have changed and it's a lot better with Olympic gold quest and all coming in.

[00:16:26] A lot of them are supported really well.

[00:16:28] And JSW by the way, although it's a non-government body.

[00:16:30] Do you know that the WFI, the Wrestling Federation of India,

[00:16:37] in 2021 prevented private NGOs from signing contracts or training wrestlers without its prior approval.

[00:16:47] All about power and control.

[00:16:49] I mean, I think Fogart who had a private contract with JSW Sports,

[00:16:53] who are doing an amazing job of training athletes.

[00:16:56] She lost that and she had to go and train in Sweden after that.

[00:17:00] So I was saying that there are private people who are jumping into the fray to help her athletes.

[00:17:06] But they're not allowed to take it up.

[00:17:08] You know WFI, Wrestling Federation of India has been suspended by the government as of 2023 December as a result of the protests.

[00:17:18] And yet the joker Sanjay Singh from there is in Paris today,

[00:17:23] accusing the nutritionist and the doctor who went with Fogart to say how did this happen.

[00:17:29] I mean what did you do to support her?

[00:17:31] That is another kind of worms altogether.

[00:17:35] And there will always be questions being asked as to how did this happen and how was she...

[00:17:41] I mean when you micro manage every single gram that goes into your athlete,

[00:17:46] how did this happen?

[00:17:48] And we know that women's bodies aren't predictable.

[00:17:51] What a retention. Do you know Shyamal Valapji,

[00:17:54] who is a sports commentator and a sports scientist and a dear friend of mine.

[00:17:57] He's in Paris right now.

[00:17:59] He was chatting with me yesterday.

[00:18:01] I said how did this happen?

[00:18:02] He said the heat in Paris is so excruciating.

[00:18:07] There's no air conditioning as you know in their accommodation.

[00:18:12] We saw that the gold medalist sleeping in the park.

[00:18:16] So Shyamal said that when you're so severely dehydrated because of the heat,

[00:18:22] your body retains water, holds on to water.

[00:18:26] And so what that extra 100 grams probably just what to wait.

[00:18:30] And they could not give her a deuretic because it would show up on the tests, is it?

[00:18:35] I don't know if you're given diuretics or not.

[00:18:38] I don't know about that.

[00:18:40] But I'm just saying that when...

[00:18:42] This isn't your typical European climate.

[00:18:44] This is 40 degrees.

[00:18:46] I'm not complaining. I saw the hot swimmers being hot in the park.

[00:18:49] He's old enough to be your son.

[00:18:51] Just FYI.

[00:18:53] Cradles actually.

[00:18:55] One can always admire beauty.

[00:18:57] That's true. I sent his picture.

[00:18:59] I sent that forward to my daughter.

[00:19:01] Hot swimmer feeling hot in the park.

[00:19:03] No, no, no. Just hot swimmer.

[00:19:05] He's really good looking Italian guy.

[00:19:07] But coming back to this entire thing about, okay, forget it.

[00:19:14] I wonder what her mind state would be.

[00:19:16] And I hope she's getting enough psychological counseling right now

[00:19:19] because she must be in a terrible state.

[00:19:21] I also worry about Iman Khalif.

[00:19:23] Because that woman, I say woman because she was raised a woman.

[00:19:30] She was born with certain genetic issues.

[00:19:33] She was born with a vagina.

[00:19:35] That I have not checked.

[00:19:36] That's what they said.

[00:19:38] But I know that there is XY.

[00:19:42] But there is extra testosterone.

[00:19:45] Whatever, all those things.

[00:19:47] But the fact that on a passport she is female

[00:19:51] is the criterion that the IOC uses to allow them to complete as a female.

[00:19:55] Okay, we've had Dutti Chand, we've had Castosimonia,

[00:19:59] we've had Santee Sordarajan.

[00:20:01] All of whom were found to be carrying too much of something

[00:20:06] that was not allowed for their category of contesting.

[00:20:10] That is women.

[00:20:11] So therefore, Santee was disqualified.

[00:20:14] She was not allowed to compete again.

[00:20:16] She was so humiliated.

[00:20:17] She went and she tried to commit suicide.

[00:20:19] This woman.

[00:20:21] Which country was she from, you say?

[00:20:23] India.

[00:20:24] India.

[00:20:25] She was found to have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.

[00:20:28] That's what this girl also has.

[00:20:31] Genetically one male and one X and one Y chromosome.

[00:20:34] But is resistant to male hormones.

[00:20:37] So this is the main thing, right?

[00:20:38] That people can argue that she is XY.

[00:20:40] But XY chromosome doesn't mean you're male

[00:20:44] because if your body isn't responding to that chromosome

[00:20:48] and there is insensitivity to the androgen,

[00:20:51] then you are not androgynous.

[00:20:54] And then you're not male.

[00:20:55] Your body is female.

[00:20:56] And they've tested all these bodies.

[00:20:58] That's why they have arrived at this research

[00:21:00] that your body is female.

[00:21:02] Even if you look a little male, your body is female.

[00:21:05] And so Khalif is as female as the next female in the Olympics.

[00:21:14] In the Olympics, yes.

[00:21:15] Yeah.

[00:21:16] But you know, I mean, the fact is that the argument goes

[00:21:20] that they would be more powerful

[00:21:22] and they would have more strength and more capability

[00:21:24] than the other female athletes competing.

[00:21:26] But Duthi Chand took that to the International Court of Arbitration

[00:21:29] and she won the case because she proved that, you know,

[00:21:32] it's not something that she's taking artificially.

[00:21:34] It is something that is natural.

[00:21:35] Even Semina, what's her name?

[00:21:37] Castor Semenya.

[00:21:38] Semenya, even Semenya took the matter.

[00:21:41] It's in a Swiss court now.

[00:21:43] Yeah, it's in the Swiss court.

[00:21:45] Duthi Chand won that case.

[00:21:46] That Castor's case is still going.

[00:21:48] But do you know what happened in Castor's case?

[00:21:50] In her case, they put her on hormones to reduce the testosterone levels in her body

[00:21:54] because her body was showing elevated levels of testosterone.

[00:21:58] They created nausea, they created depression,

[00:22:02] and they created weight gain in her body.

[00:22:06] And so even physically she became incapable of fighting,

[00:22:09] which is why she took up the fight.

[00:22:11] That's terrible. That's really terrible.

[00:22:13] It's awful.

[00:22:14] And to think like until the 1900s,

[00:22:16] women weren't even allowed to compete in the Olympics.

[00:22:18] Yeah, we've just sort of gained that.

[00:22:20] Everything is a battle.

[00:22:21] Whether you have to vote, it's a battle.

[00:22:23] If you want to have reproductive rights, it's a battle.

[00:22:26] It's still a battle in the US.

[00:22:28] Why is everything a battle?

[00:22:31] Whether you want to marry off your own accord

[00:22:33] or if you want to be with somebody of your own gender

[00:22:37] or some other gender, why is everything a battle for women?

[00:22:42] Why?

[00:22:43] Thank God at least this time Paris has gender.

[00:22:45] It's a gender equal Olympics for the first ever time.

[00:22:49] We just want to talk about this.

[00:22:51] What happens is this entire category of athletes

[00:22:55] who have to fight to prove that they're women

[00:22:57] and be allowed to compete in the women's section.

[00:23:00] We do know that of 100 children,

[00:23:02] two children are born intersex.

[00:23:04] Why do you know that?

[00:23:06] Okay.

[00:23:07] So they are born with the characteristics of...

[00:23:10] Maybe they might have sexual correction surgeries

[00:23:12] early in childhood to make them either X or XY.

[00:23:16] But at the time of puberty, if you're male,

[00:23:20] all these sports bodies consider you male.

[00:23:23] Yeah.

[00:23:24] These are very different from those who have transitioned.

[00:23:27] That's right.

[00:23:28] So I think what's happening is people are confusing.

[00:23:30] I think even those who were talking about Iman Khalif

[00:23:33] and who trolled her were confused about the fact that

[00:23:37] she was not a man transitioning to a woman.

[00:23:40] She was definitely very much a woman.

[00:23:42] So I mean, we're talking about...

[00:23:44] Yeah, it's important to make distinctions between trans and between...

[00:23:49] Intersex.

[00:23:50] Intersex.

[00:23:51] They are two very different things.

[00:23:53] And with trans, you do have testosterone,

[00:23:56] which I've said before is the gorilla in the room.

[00:23:58] There's nothing you can do about it.

[00:24:00] I mean somebody like Martina Navratilova has said that

[00:24:02] if I as a woman who played at the highest levels

[00:24:05] and if I was facing a man who was transitioning to be a woman,

[00:24:09] I would not be able to win.

[00:24:11] So there is definitely that advantage

[00:24:13] and that definitely needs to be considered.

[00:24:15] I think the Olympics should have a category for intersex.

[00:24:18] I think these Olympics are going to be sort of a harbinger of change,

[00:24:24] hopefully, for female athletes and for intersex athletes.

[00:24:28] And maybe intersex athletes need to have their own category.

[00:24:31] That's what I'm saying.

[00:24:32] Maybe all these rules need to be reconsidered

[00:24:35] of how gender is changing, how definitions are changing,

[00:24:38] people transitioning.

[00:24:40] I think the rules say that if you started taking puberty blockers before you were 12,

[00:24:44] you can compete in the category that you choose to.

[00:24:47] It is who you are at the time of puberty is what you have to play as.

[00:24:51] So these need to be more clear

[00:24:53] and the guidelines really need to be looked at

[00:24:55] because this will keep happening over and over again now.

[00:24:57] This will keep coming up in every Olympics.

[00:25:00] But off topic, moving away from this entire gender conversation,

[00:25:05] do you know that the other day someone was saying,

[00:25:08] oh my God, India is keen to host the Olympics.

[00:25:12] And remember what happened in our Commonwealth Games

[00:25:14] when Pratibha Patil opened and said,

[00:25:16] let the gums begin.

[00:25:17] Lovely.

[00:25:18] And then Congress government at the time

[00:25:21] and then flowers were collapsing and camots were falling off

[00:25:24] and some snakes were found in the athletes' toilets.

[00:25:26] And Sheila Dixit had the...

[00:25:28] She almost lost because of that.

[00:25:30] Lost because of that, right.

[00:25:31] She was held accountable.

[00:25:33] So in Paris, other than the things we've just mentioned,

[00:25:38] the scene is so filthy that a lot of swimmers

[00:25:42] are lying in hospitals with E. coli infections.

[00:25:45] So I think we could match them in that

[00:25:47] because our methi is worse.

[00:25:50] No, what I'm just saying that this is allegedly a first world country,

[00:25:54] but maybe not.

[00:25:55] So maybe we can still hold the Olympics.

[00:25:57] I mean, the Yamuna, they could swim through the froth

[00:25:59] if we have it in Delhi.

[00:26:01] And if they have it in Bombay,

[00:26:04] we have the methi river with more E. coli

[00:26:06] than they can ever measure.

[00:26:08] Bangalore, I doubt it has a river.

[00:26:09] It has some lakes which have all dried up.

[00:26:11] Points that Shamil shared yesterday because he's in Paris.

[00:26:14] So he said firstly, these are the issues he says

[00:26:17] with the Paris 2024 Olympics are turning into a joke.

[00:26:21] And the athletes are paying the price, which is true.

[00:26:24] Which is true.

[00:26:25] So he says, first is failure to establish the gender eligibility norms.

[00:26:28] They put female athletes at risk, as we've seen with E. coli.

[00:26:31] Second is the Green Olympics and a village without air conditioning

[00:26:35] resulting in athletes sleeping in parks and getting overheated.

[00:26:39] Third, athletes falling sick from swimming in unhygienic sand river.

[00:26:43] Fourth, athletes not allowed access to practice facilities

[00:26:47] early enough to prepare for competition.

[00:26:49] Really, but the last point is ridiculous.

[00:26:51] How can you not allow that?

[00:26:52] Exactly.

[00:26:53] I mean, I know they spent some one billion odd to clean up the river,

[00:26:58] but apparently some rain happened and it all went.

[00:27:02] So there was a deluge and it wasn't forecasted.

[00:27:05] And everything went back to square one.

[00:27:07] Everything went to seed.

[00:27:08] But listen, there's also some Shelley and Frasier price.

[00:27:12] Shocking Olympic withdrawal after entry mix-up.

[00:27:15] What the hell is this?

[00:27:16] Okay, this is not related to gender, I think.

[00:27:18] Yeah. So anyway.

[00:27:20] Yeah. So the triathletes are all sick now.

[00:27:22] The triathletes are all sick. Wonderful.

[00:27:24] And that we could do easily.

[00:27:26] That we don't need to have any special preparation for.

[00:27:28] That will happen naturally.

[00:27:30] We just call them, Taero Bhai.

[00:27:32] Hospitaler bakal mein.

[00:27:34] I wouldn't be surprised if they host it in Banaras.

[00:27:37] Banaras is cleaned up, I believe.

[00:27:40] No, the Ganga is clean.

[00:27:41] But I'm just saying that way they'll also get to promote the whole

[00:27:45] India as a whole religious

[00:27:47] issue. Just take that out.

[00:27:49] Just take Banaras out.

[00:27:51] We'll just get told for no reason.

[00:27:53] But yeah,

[00:27:55] we could do the swimming and get them infected.

[00:27:58] I mean, whatever the stadiums.

[00:28:01] I don't know where we have.

[00:28:03] I'm saying something contrary to this.

[00:28:05] I'm saying that you always sort of

[00:28:07] think of the West

[00:28:09] as upholding certain hygiene and sanitation standards.

[00:28:12] We've all seen the hygiene and sanitation standards.

[00:28:15] Shunali, please.

[00:28:16] But you think that at least now for the Olympics,

[00:28:18] you know how much money they spent some 125 million or something on cleaning up the river?

[00:28:24] They just distributed it to charity.

[00:28:26] But Europe is grumbling.

[00:28:28] It is true.

[00:28:29] Europe is grumbling and look at the way things are everywhere.

[00:28:33] Even the inaugural ceremony was terrible.

[00:28:35] I mean, it was tasteless.

[00:28:36] It was bad.

[00:28:37] That whole LGBTQ parade was

[00:28:40] And what was that display?

[00:28:41] Mocking the last supper.

[00:28:43] Yeah, what was that?

[00:28:44] What was that?

[00:28:45] I mean, what are you trying to show and prove?

[00:28:47] I mean, even if you're being inclusive

[00:28:49] or you're trying to be subversive or whatever,

[00:28:51] it doesn't work.

[00:28:52] It was Kishi.

[00:28:53] It was horrible.

[00:28:54] It ended up being Taki and Kishi.

[00:28:56] And to think that this happens in Paris,

[00:28:58] which is supposed to be the capital of style and fashion,

[00:29:01] taste and culture and whatever of the world,

[00:29:05] we could have done a better job.

[00:29:06] This is a little shard.

[00:29:07] I didn't know they happened.

[00:29:08] A lot happened.

[00:29:09] A lot happened.

[00:29:11] But listen, as of this morning,

[00:29:13] you know that Anteem Panga has been deported

[00:29:15] because her coaches,

[00:29:17] firstly, after the match,

[00:29:19] she went straight away to the hotel

[00:29:21] where her support team was staying

[00:29:23] and she asked her sister to get her bag

[00:29:25] from the Olympic village

[00:29:27] by giving her her ID card.

[00:29:28] This is such an Indian thing.

[00:29:30] Jogat doesn't work everywhere.

[00:29:32] I'm just a convenience thing.

[00:29:34] This is something that I'm perfectly capable of doing.

[00:29:36] We all are.

[00:29:37] We've grown up doing this.

[00:29:38] Listen, you just take this.

[00:29:39] I'm capable of saying it to my daughter also.

[00:29:41] Just go get my bag out.

[00:29:42] So from her point of view,

[00:29:43] she's not committing such a big crime.

[00:29:45] Listen, Shunali, we do this.

[00:29:46] We give ID cards to people

[00:29:47] that say, go write our exams for us.

[00:29:49] I know.

[00:29:50] Your PSA exam.

[00:29:51] That's what we are as a nation.

[00:29:53] That's the other nation.

[00:29:54] So from her point of view,

[00:29:55] she's not thinking she's doing such a big crime.

[00:29:57] So one is that because they said

[00:29:59] if you cannot stick with the...

[00:30:02] I mean, if you have no respect for rules,

[00:30:05] then you don't deserve to be an athlete.

[00:30:07] But the worst is that her two coaches

[00:30:10] were in a cab and they were inebriated

[00:30:12] and they got into a fight with the cab

[00:30:13] and refused to pay him.

[00:30:14] So he took them to the cop station.

[00:30:16] My God.

[00:30:17] And even Pangal went to the cop station

[00:30:20] because they took her sister to the cop station

[00:30:22] and said that she got in, by the way,

[00:30:25] on that card.

[00:30:26] As she was walking out,

[00:30:27] the scanner must have not scanned

[00:30:28] or somebody must have caught her out

[00:30:29] and said that you are not the athlete.

[00:30:31] So they took her to the cop station

[00:30:33] and Pangal had to come there.

[00:30:34] I mean, think about this scandal.

[00:30:36] How silly that it took you so much

[00:30:40] to get to this point.

[00:30:41] And because of this small oversight,

[00:30:44] a little lapse in...

[00:30:45] It's a lapse of in judgment.

[00:30:47] You're exhausted.

[00:30:48] You're like, okay,

[00:30:49] I have some I only collect my bag.

[00:30:50] But see, this can actually be dangerous.

[00:30:53] Someone can go in your behalf

[00:30:54] and compete on your behalf.

[00:30:56] So it's not a minor issue.

[00:30:57] She hasn't thought this through.

[00:31:00] See, we get away with it here.

[00:31:02] So we assume that it's okay

[00:31:03] everywhere in the world,

[00:31:04] but it's not.

[00:31:05] It's the same thing.

[00:31:06] Now we will spit and defecate

[00:31:09] and urinate everywhere in India,

[00:31:10] but in Singapore,

[00:31:11] we'd be very well behaved

[00:31:13] because we know we can go to jail there.

[00:31:15] There's something I must say

[00:31:17] when we're talking about this entire gender thing.

[00:31:20] There's something male athletes can't do,

[00:31:22] which I saw when Serena Williams

[00:31:24] was being interviewed by David Letterman.

[00:31:25] I don't know if you've seen that.

[00:31:27] So he took her to this street

[00:31:30] in I think New York it was.

[00:31:32] And there were some store windows there

[00:31:34] and said, okay, let's see your serve.

[00:31:36] Letterman took the racket

[00:31:38] and he did his nice little sweet little serve.

[00:31:42] Serena Williams in her little tight mini

[00:31:46] with really high heels.

[00:31:48] She's quite fashionable.

[00:31:50] Yeah, she's very, very hot.

[00:31:52] I love her fashion.

[00:31:53] And she smashed the window

[00:31:55] with her serve in high heels.

[00:31:57] That's nothing that a man can do.

[00:31:59] A man cannot serve like that with high heels.

[00:32:01] Think of Letterman's age, you know?

[00:32:03] No, he's not an athlete also.

[00:32:05] The female old man.

[00:32:06] Yeah, she's not an athlete.

[00:32:07] I don't expect anything from her.

[00:32:08] But can somebody smash a window in high heels?

[00:32:12] So there's an athlete called Maniza Talash.

[00:32:15] Talash is an Arabic word,

[00:32:17] Arabic name that she has given to herself

[00:32:19] to save her family

[00:32:22] from the repercussions of an Afghan girl

[00:32:26] competing in a sport

[00:32:28] after the Taliban has taken over.

[00:32:30] So before the Taliban took over,

[00:32:32] she realized that she enjoyed breaking.

[00:32:35] And breaking is dancing on your hands

[00:32:37] and your head or whatever.

[00:32:38] And she joined a club

[00:32:40] where mostly boys used to train.

[00:32:41] And she got trained.

[00:32:42] She really enjoyed it.

[00:32:44] So after the Taliban took over

[00:32:46] and girls were even prevented from attending school,

[00:32:51] she fled to Spain somehow.

[00:32:53] And she has competed in the Olympics this time

[00:32:58] in the refugee category.

[00:32:59] Okay.

[00:33:00] And she assumed a false name

[00:33:02] to save her family's identity.

[00:33:03] And she said that I knew that I wasn't likely to win.

[00:33:06] But for an Afghan girl to take this step

[00:33:09] on behalf of all those Afghan girls

[00:33:11] is a very big thing.

[00:33:13] Absolutely.

[00:33:14] And unfortunately,

[00:33:15] because her identity has been revealed to the world,

[00:33:17] her family has also fled from there.

[00:33:19] And they're also in Spain now.

[00:33:20] So no, at least the family is reunited.

[00:33:22] But she said that I'm competing on behalf of all my friends

[00:33:26] and for their dreams and hopes.

[00:33:28] How wonderful.

[00:33:29] Because she said that you can restrict Afghan girls

[00:33:32] and you can imprison Afghan girls,

[00:33:34] but they'll definitely find a way

[00:33:36] to achieve their goals

[00:33:38] and to outwill everybody.

[00:33:39] How wonderful.

[00:33:41] And it was good for all women athletes everywhere.