Caster Semenya is a 27-year-old South African middle-distance runner, and currently one of the most controversial names in athletics. To date, Semenya has an enormous record of success. In her favoured discipline, the 800m, she has won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, gold at the 2009, 2011 and 2017 World Championships as well as golds in both the 800m and 1500m at the 2016 African Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Based on her record, she ought to be going down as one of the greatest female athletes in history.
Yet, controversy has followed her entire career. Semenya suffers from a form of hyperandrogenism, a medical condition characterised by excessive levels of male sex hormones, such as testosterone, in the female body (Barth et al., 2010). Following her 2009 World Championships victory, she was subject to an invasive sex verification test by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) in order to prove she was female. While the full test results were never released, it was leaked that Semenya had internal testes and no womb or ovaries. As the general secretary of the IAAF charmingly put it, “It is clear that she is a woman but maybe not 100 percent” (Farndale, 2009). In 2010, the IAAF allowed Semenya to continue competing as a female athlete.
There are major ethical questions raised by the process. Questions about what defines an athlete as being a woman, and perhaps importantly questions around which conditions, natural or otherwise, constitute unfair advantages (Schultz, 2011). There is no clear next step for something which is such a provocative and difficult issue, not helped by the generic racism, sexism and homophobia portrayed by the Western media regarding the issue (Cooky, 2013). However, in April of this year, the IAAF did announce new rule changes to require athletes with hyperandrogenism to take medication to lower their testosterone levels, to be effective as of November 2018 (IAAF, 2018).
Cooky and Dworkin (2013) argue that sport is not a level playing field anyway, with certain attributes unattainable by certain athletes (height, for example, a benefit to stride length) puts others at an automatic advantage. The frailty myth proposed by Dowling (2000) even suggests that women will be outcompeting men in certain athletics events by 2064. What is unarguable, is the harm that sex-verification testing inflicts on the athlete’s privacy, personal life and dignity that is completely disproportionate to any unfairness that is targeted by examining gender (Buzuvis, 2010).
It remains to be seen what will happen next with gender testing and particularly the focus around Semenya herself. In the meantime, she is likely to continue winning gold medals and setting national, continental and possibly world records. Perhaps gender testing for female athletes should end except for those intentionally committing gender fraud, and the IAAF should accept that there is a myriad of physiological differences that lead to certain advantages when it comes to sport. Perhaps one day Semenya may be commended and admired for what she has achieved, instead of being scorned at and chastised for something far beyond her or anybody else’s control. For now, she must continue with what she has done best her entire life – winning.
REFERENCES
Barth, J.H., Field, H.P., Yasmin, E. and Balen, A., 2010. Definition of hyperandrogenism. Current Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, p.117.
Buzuvis, E., 2010. Caster Semenya and the myth of a level playing field. Mod. Am., 6, p.36.
Cooky, C. and Dworkin, S.L., 2013. Policing the boundaries of sex: A critical examination of gender verification and the Caster Semenya controversy. Journal of sex research, 50(2), pp.103-111.
Cooky, C., Dycus, R. and Dworkin, S.L., 2013. “What Makes a Woman a Woman?” Versus “Our First Lady of Sport” A Comparative Analysis of the United States and the South African Media Coverage of Caster Semenya. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 37(1), pp.31-56.
Dowling, C., 2000. The frailty myth: Women approaching physical equality. Random House Incorporated.
Farndale, N. (2009) Athletics: Caster Semenya the latest female athlete suspected of being biological male. [Online] Available from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/sport/6414523/Athletics-Caster-Semenya-the-latest-female-athlete-suspected-of-being-biological-male.html?mobile=basic [accessed 18 May 2018].
IAAF. (2018) IAAF INTRODUCES NEW ELIGIBILITY REGULATIONS FOR FEMALE CLASSIFICATION. [Online] Available from: https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/eligibility-regulations-for-female-classifica [accessed 18 May 2018].
Schultz, J., 2011. Caster Semenya and the “question of too”: Sex testing in elite women’s sport and the issue of advantage. Quest, 63(2), pp.228-243.