By Chris Chase
The favorite in the women's 800m at the world track championships will run under suspicion that she's actually a man.
After bursting onto the scene with the world's fastest time three weeks ago at a junior meet, South Africa's Caster Semenya, 18, has been dogged by gender-swapping accusations. She will undergo complex gender testing (it's not as easy as you'd think) after her race tonight, but the results won't be available for a few weeks. Semenya had the fastest qualifying time of the eight competitors.
South African officials have acknowledged the controversy, but are standing by Semenya. Molatelo Malehopo, general manager of Athletics South Africa, told UK's Daily Mail:
"She is a female. We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts.
We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening."
It's nothing new for a great female athlete to be accused of being a man. Babe Didrikson, perhaps the greatest sportswoman of all-time, was constantly being hounded by such slurs. And it's also not unheard of for a man to compete as a woman.
But despite the breathless reports from British and Australian newspapers, there doesn't seem to be any concrete evidence that Semenya is actually a man other than the fact that she runs really fast, has a defined physique and doesn't have the most feminine of features.
It's interesting that the speculation immediately turned to gender rather than steroids, as the latter would be a more logical way to cheat. Normally when athletes lower their personal bests by wide margins, the talk immediately turns toward doping. Not in this case.
And if Semenya was actually a man, wouldn't he/she try to do more to look like a woman? I mean, I've seen Tootsie. Dustin Hoffman didn't go into that TV studio with a buzz cut and form-fitting pants. He put on a dress, teased the hair and wore nail polish and makeup. He sold it. If Semenya was trying to switch genders, wouldn't there be some more effort to glam it up?
The whole thing is pretty insulting and I feel bad for the 18-year old that is getting dragged through this. Maybe she's a he. If that's proven, then I'll be first in line to criticize. But right now there's nothing to suggest that there's anything nefarious going on other than the jealous whispers of competitors.
Update: If there were whispers before, they'll likely turn to shouts now. Caster Semenya thoroughly dominated the field in the 800m final tonight in Berlin, hitting the tape a full 25 meters ahead of the field.
While the other runners were laboring in the backstretch, Semenya looked like she was out for a Sunday jog. Her 1:55.46 was the fastest winning time at the world championships since 1993.
And not that this means anything either way, but when Semenya raised her arms in triumph after the race it was clear that she doesn't shave her armpits. To go back to the Tootsie comparison, if Semenya is actually a man, she/he isn't trying very hard to mask it.
The IAAF insists that the gender testing of Semenya is a "medical issue" not one of foul play.
The favorite in the women's 800m at the world track championships will run under suspicion that she's actually a man.
After bursting onto the scene with the world's fastest time three weeks ago at a junior meet, South Africa's Caster Semenya, 18, has been dogged by gender-swapping accusations. She will undergo complex gender testing (it's not as easy as you'd think) after her race tonight, but the results won't be available for a few weeks. Semenya had the fastest qualifying time of the eight competitors.
South African officials have acknowledged the controversy, but are standing by Semenya. Molatelo Malehopo, general manager of Athletics South Africa, told UK's Daily Mail:
"She is a female. We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts.
We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening."
It's nothing new for a great female athlete to be accused of being a man. Babe Didrikson, perhaps the greatest sportswoman of all-time, was constantly being hounded by such slurs. And it's also not unheard of for a man to compete as a woman.
But despite the breathless reports from British and Australian newspapers, there doesn't seem to be any concrete evidence that Semenya is actually a man other than the fact that she runs really fast, has a defined physique and doesn't have the most feminine of features.
It's interesting that the speculation immediately turned to gender rather than steroids, as the latter would be a more logical way to cheat. Normally when athletes lower their personal bests by wide margins, the talk immediately turns toward doping. Not in this case.
And if Semenya was actually a man, wouldn't he/she try to do more to look like a woman? I mean, I've seen Tootsie. Dustin Hoffman didn't go into that TV studio with a buzz cut and form-fitting pants. He put on a dress, teased the hair and wore nail polish and makeup. He sold it. If Semenya was trying to switch genders, wouldn't there be some more effort to glam it up?
The whole thing is pretty insulting and I feel bad for the 18-year old that is getting dragged through this. Maybe she's a he. If that's proven, then I'll be first in line to criticize. But right now there's nothing to suggest that there's anything nefarious going on other than the jealous whispers of competitors.
Update: If there were whispers before, they'll likely turn to shouts now. Caster Semenya thoroughly dominated the field in the 800m final tonight in Berlin, hitting the tape a full 25 meters ahead of the field.
While the other runners were laboring in the backstretch, Semenya looked like she was out for a Sunday jog. Her 1:55.46 was the fastest winning time at the world championships since 1993.
And not that this means anything either way, but when Semenya raised her arms in triumph after the race it was clear that she doesn't shave her armpits. To go back to the Tootsie comparison, if Semenya is actually a man, she/he isn't trying very hard to mask it.
The IAAF insists that the gender testing of Semenya is a "medical issue" not one of foul play.
FYI - they have allowed her to continue to participate EVEN AFTER the findings that HE is genetically an XY MALE, NO OVARIES OR UTERUS, AND HAS TESTES.
ReplyDeleteSEMENYA has what is known as pseudo male hermaphrodism, which is basically a dude with a deformed or feminized penis, but is in every other respect A MALE.
Having a micro penis and balls that look like a vulva, then being 'raised' as a woman, does not MAKE you A WOMAN.
THIS IS UNFAIR TO THE REAL WOMEN WHO PARTICIPATE who are angry as shit, because women CANNOT compete with a man in running, it just is not fair.
THE WOMEN are also BANNED from TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY FEEL, TOO.
ALL THIS because South Africa rolled on the ground and screamed RACISM and said they would start WW3 if they disallowed ''her'' to run.
ALSO South African athletic commissioners, etc. had her tested before she ever ran internationally and then lied and said they didn't BECAUSE THEY KNEW SHE WAS A MAN.
PLEASE for gods sake, even without the testing THAT IS A MAN. Broad shoulders NO TITS washboard abs no woman ever is shaped like that, V shape no hips, male legs & ass PLUS just the face, come on man.
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-12-17/world/gaza.gender.id_1_birth-defect-facial-hair-girls-school?_s=PM:WORLD
HERE read this article about the same 'gender disorder' occurring at HUGELY high rates in GAZA due to inbreeding.
3rd world doctors take a quick look, call it a 'girl' raised as a girl, then at puberty gets muscles deep voice & facial hair - OOPS he has 'that thing' like cousin Mostafa - cut hair, change clothes & say YOU'RE A BOY - which freaks them out and causes awful emotional problems.
Anyway this will give you a really solid idea of what the disorder is and how it affects 'boys' in non western countries.
Also, in SOMALIA where girls are all given 'full ablation type III female genital mutilation' (what they call CIRCUMCISION) which is where they cut off the entire clitoris even digging down and cutting out 'meat' that goes deeper into the body to make sure IT'S ALL GONE, then they cut off the labia minor (small inner vaginal lips) COMPLETELY then they slice off most of the vulva/labia major (vaginal 'lips') and press the two open wounds together and then sew it together so that it HEALS into one expanse of tissue. Once the 'wound' heals they are virtually sewn shut (except for a tiny hole for urine & menstrual blood) and yes this causes death/infections/bladder infections/sterility/bad odor etc.
ANYWAY there was a boy born with this male psuedo hermaphrodism, and they performed that TYPE III FGM on him, and lo and behold, when HE hit puberty they realized their mistake, but, too late for him, they had cut off EVERYTHING so he had nothing to rebuild with and now way to have an 'operation' like the boys in Gaza will receive.
What a joke.