In the first ever such case, an Indian runner, who won a silver medal in the women's 800 meters in the Asian Games is likely to be stripped off the medal failing a gender test.

Santhi Soundarajan won the women's 800 meters but reports revealed that Santhi did not have the sexual characteristics of a woman, Indian TV reported.

Santhi won the silver clocking 2:3.16 behind Mariam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain.

The gender problem was detected immediately after she won the medal and many believe that Indian sports officials were aware of this.

Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Ashwini Kumar said, "In our days, such tests were never conducted. However, nowadays the prize money is so high that athletes take to shortcuts to win."

"The sport is not what it used to be once. Gender verification tests should be brought back in a big way," he added.

The test was administered by a medical commission set up by the games' organizers.