Last Thursday a no-name South African runner named Caster Semenya won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the IAAF World championship in Berlin. The end of this story should be her celebrating with her family and friends and being congratulated by the world. Instead she is now under a microscope literally and figuratively.
Before I get into the firestorm that is her life now, let me tell you this one thing…this kid is only 18 years old.
Rumors began that she was not “entirely a woman” when she set a world record of 1:56.72 at the Africa Junior Championship in late July. The International Federation began to ask questions and it was decided that she undergo gender testing, which is a complicated business. The issue of gender testing is so controversial that the International Olympic Committee suspended widespread gender testing in 1999, reserving the right to conduct an investigation "if there is a valid suspicion."
Basically, if questions are raised there are four main elements to consider: anatomy, physiology, chromosomal makeup and genetic composition. All of which is taking longer to complete than the World Championships, so she was allowed to compete.
For sports governing bodies like the IOC or IAAF, where fair competition on the basis of gender is a pre-requisite, this has been a delicate subject, with no simple answer. How and who should decide in these cases whether the person be considered a woman or a man? Yes, it goes deeper than just an XX and XY distinction…
The answer comes through debate and case-by-case discussion with a lot of analysis, which is putting this 18-year-old in a terrible situation. Whatever the results show, Semenya’s situation has highlighted the assumptions that the general population makes about what a woman should look like and how she should behave. Hopefully people will learn from this: unfortunately this aspiring athlete is having to pay the price for their lesson.
