India, Sept. 23 -- Elite sport runs on precision but the female body doesn't always follow the script. After all, the barbell doesn't care if you're cramping, the runway doesn't care if your body feels heavier, and the weighing scale doesn't care if your body is retaining water.

Gyaneshwari Yadav, and Ancy Sojan are elite Indian female athletes who have acknowledged in the past that the biggest variable is sometimes their own body, menstrual cycles, and hormones. They begin their Asian Games campaigns this week. Mirabai Chanu spoke about her cycle affecting her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"It was the first day of my period," Gyaneshwari said immediately after her silver medal-winning lift at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in...