Much of the attention has focused on South African runner Caster Semenya, the favorite to win gold in the women’s 800 meters on Saturday.
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She had asked the IAAF to prove that enhanced testosterone levels improved performance in hyperandrogenic athletes, rather than take medication or have surgery. There were reports that she was intersex – someone who has both male and female biological elements – and that her testosterone was well above natural levels in a woman, a condition known as hyperandrogenism.
A silver medal at the 2012 Olympics in London followed, but Semenya’s star, while swapping coaches a couple of times and battling injury, was seemingly on the wane after failing to qualify for the final 2014 Commonwealth Games or the 2015 World Championships.
Since then Semenya has been head and shoulders above her rivals and is nearly a full second quicker than anyone else this season. They say her condition is no different than genetic gifts bestowed on other athletes: Kevin Durant’s height, for example, or Usain Bolt’s long legs.
South African newspapers, still reveling in Wayde van Niekerk’s sensational 400m final win, which saw him smash Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old record, were also swift to back Semenya.
Semenya’s “eligibility to compete against other female athletes is not a debatable matter as she was born a girl and no amount of public humiliation can change her gender”, it adds. “I don’t know. I don’t give a damn about it”.
Earlier this week, the athlete dubbed “Unlimited Cobra” came under scrutiny when global officials and journalists questioned whether she should be allowed to compete in the female categories, referring to Semenya as having an “intersex condition”.
All we can say is God’s speed Caster and we’ll be rooting for you all the way.
“It wasn’t easy, it was pretty hot”, Semenya said. She is in something of a catch-22 – the stronger her performances the more likely it is for the IAAF to impose further inhibitive regulations which could spell the end of her career as we know it.
“There was so much talk around her”, Clark recalls. “I just tried to hang on and tried to feel my body first so I was comfortable”. Joanna Harper, who has advised the International Olympic Committee on their approach to hyperandrogenism and transgender athletes, said: “It is not unreasonable to suggest that half of the eight-woman 800m final in Rio might well be of interest”.
Now, Semenya has been trending on Twitter, with her countrymen backing her up using the hashtag #HandsOffCaster, to mute the controversy. The South African, the unwilling face of track’s ethical and medical dilemma over women with high levels of testosterone, sharply divides opinion even among fellow competitors. “My testosterone level is higher than Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s, but she would defeat me in a race for many other reasons”. An organisation spokesman said that the test had been ordered because of the dramatic improvement in Ms Semenya’s race times.
Ireland’s Ciara Everard acknowledged that it’s a sensitive, complicated subject, but “people are complaining about it”.
“I’m just focussing on winning my championships so I can better my 800m”.
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All eyes are on Semenya, with many hoping that she’ll bring home another trophy to Team SA’s one gold, five silvers and a bronze.
