If you’ve followed the Caster Semenya case as closely as I have been, you will undoubtedly know that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled that Caster can now, albeit temporarily, compete again. This means she will not have to take testosterone inhibitors to compete at the highest level. This is fantastic news for her as it means she will not have to change the way she does things, not that she was going to anyway as she believes she should be allowed to compete regardless and most tend to agree. It also means her appeal process can be done while she is able to compete because before this ruling she would not be able to compete without taking supplements to reduce testosterone levels.
Now this isn’t over by a long way as the IAAF has said they want a reversal of the judgment made by the Swiss Court. The IAAF has said regarding its rules that it is “convinced there are some contexts, sport being one of them, where biology has trump to identity. It “believes the right to participate in sport does not translate to a right to self identity into a competition category or event. “To define category based on something other than biology would be category-defeating and would deter many girls around the world from choosing competitive and elite sport after puberty.” “Regulations (on athletes with differences of sexual development) are necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair and meaningful competition in elite female athletics Cas has agreed.”
I believe the IAAF are saying that Caster identifies as a woman but I would think so as well, she was born a woman and due to being born a “hermaphrodite” its questioned whether she is male or female but I don’t see this as an identity issue at all it would be different if she was transgender and chose to be female as far as she knows she was born female and it’s the way God intended her to be. I think that much too much is being made of this being an identity crisis and it really isn’t, they say biology must trump identity but what do they mean exactly? Are they going to create a hermaphrodite category or a transgender category in athletics where she can compete naturally? I don’t really know where they are going with these statements as to identity and biology? The bottom line is that she is being discriminated against for something that is totally out of her control. I don’t believe she should have to take any form of drug to be able to compete. I’ve said before a natural advantage should be allowed. Michael Phelps body naturally produces less lactic acid are his medals being taken away, no, in fact they said he is lucky to have such a natural advantage over his opponents. So a white male is lucky to have a natural advantage but as soon as a black female athlete has one all of a sudden she’s not so lucky and is somehow cheating! The double standards are there for all to see, anyone with a smartphone can Google the 800m world record holder and I’m sure you’d be shocked to see what she looks like but there was never a question over her natural biology but then again she’s white why would you question her intentions?
All that is clear at this point is that this issue will continue to divide opinion all over the world and there is no end in sight because there will be appeal after appeal from both sides no matter the outcome. All she wants to do is run free and yet she is not allowed to. Will Semenya ever run free again?
Can she win her appeal against the IAAF? Only time will tell in this saga which looks set to continue for some time yet.
