Caster Semenya

[Xhavenjoe]

This seems like it will never end

Caster Semenya has lost her appeal to the Swiss Supreme Court against the World Athletics regulations which restrict testosterone levels in female athletes.

The South African was challenging the regulations which mean she is not allowed to compete in events between 400 metres and a mile without taking testosterone-suppressing drugs. They were upheld last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This latest legal defeat is a blow to Semenya’s hopes of being able to defend her 800m title at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

she should accept who she is and the human rights protections afforded to the biological sex of women and those women who choose to pursue a career in athletics. We all have things about us we don't like that we just have to live with.

 

[Scottyboi]

Bollocks

 

[SWP's back]

Bollocks

Yep, they’ve not helped her case.

 

[blueinsa]

True story. South African sports minister quite a few years ago was interviewed on SA TV to defend the athlete.

I shit you not, "Caster Semenya, he is a woman" came out of his gob.
Women should have refused to race against him and took a stand long ago.

 

[SWP's back]

True story. South African sports minister quite a few years ago was interviewed on SA TV to defend the athlete.

I shit you not, "Caster Semenya, he is a woman" came out of his gob.
Women should have refused to race against him and took a stand long ago.

To be fair to her, she was born with a vagina and no penis. It’s not her fault that she also has internal testes.

She’s done nothing wrong, but I agree with CAS and the sporting bodies that it gives her an unfair advantage and thus she shouldn’t be able to compete without her testosterone levels reduced to those of a natural born woman.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

To be fair to her, she was born with a vagina and no penis. It’s not her fault that she also has internal testes.

She’s done nothing wrong, but I agree with CAS and the sporting bodies that it gives her an unfair advantage and thus she shouldn’t be able to compete without her testosterone levels reduced to those of a natural born woman.

This is the problem. They're basically in an impossible position. This isn't someone who masqueraded as a woman in order to cheat, she was born and raised as a woman and then worked hard to become good at her sport. She just happened to have a natural advantage because of an accident of birth that sport hasn't really been able to take into account in their rules properly until now. Doing anything to retrospectively ban her is going to seem unfair and vindictive, but doing nothing is equally unfair to the women who stand no chance while she's competing (and no, it's not the same as male athletes not being able to compete with Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt).