Other intimate details about her anatomy were also reported. Plus, she has the eyes of the world upon her. It was exceedingly awkward. Still fast enough to win silver at 2011 worlds and the London Olympics four years ago, but the phenomenal times came back down to Earth.
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Middle-distance runner Caster Semenya is ready to compete for the women’s 800 metres finals but her qualifying has drawn significant ire in the sporting event, because she might have “too much testosterone”.
Her supporters say it’s less to do with genetics and everything to do with her not fulfilling the ideal body image of what some feel a female athlete should look like.
In 2009 Semenya faced sex verification, a complex invasive procedure, by both Athletics South Africa and the IAAF after winning the 800 meter at the World Championships in Berlin.
Under the old rules, androgen-sensitive intersex women with high testosterone levels who wanted to compete at the highest levels were required to either undergo surgery to remove their internal testes or take testosterone-blocking drugs.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended the rules previous year, which has allowed hyperandrogenic women to run in Rio without treatment.
Following the introduction of those rules, Semenya’s times slipped, with many assuming she was taking medication to control her testosterone production.
At the Diamond League in Monaco earlier this year she runs 1:55.33, the fastest 800m since 2008.
“It wasn’t easy, It was pretty hot”. Some embraced the 25-year-old as just another competitor, while others said they’d rather see women in her situation in separate races.
“It’s a very peculiar situation, nearly unheard of in sports as far I as I know”, said Luxembourg runner Charline Mathias, who did not make the semis.
Another said: ‘I love how Caster Semenya jogs like a boss whilst other contestants sprint on Full Mode’. With the CAS ruling in effect, naturally elevated levels are, for the moment at least, acceptable.
One was titled “Is it fair for Caster Semenya to compete against women in Rio” in Sports Illustrated and the other, “Caster Semenya and the Logic behind Olympic Competition” in the New Yorker.
They have also pointed out the physical advantages enjoyed by the American swimmer Michael Phelps, who has size 14 feet and unnaturally flexible ankles.
Where do you draw the line?
Semenya’s performance on Saturday – and in the semifinals on Friday – could go some way toward answering that question.
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Ahead of the race, South African Minister of Sports and Recreation Fikile Mbalula tweeted that Semenya was “focused like never before” and wrote: “It’s your day today, all the best”. “If she can manage to forget about everything and everyone and just run, the world record is within her reach”. “Times don’t matter in championships but medals, gold medals, silver or bronze, those are targets”. “So far, we’re good”. But her supporters might become more vocal, as well, people who are concerned about Semenya’s privacy and her right to compete. But Great Britain’s Lynsey Sharp, a sometime critic of Semenya, tersely said, “I don’t want to talk about it” and Canadian medal contender Melissa Bishop said the same thing. “I was born like this”.
