Caster Semenya - Man, Woman, or Neither?

[capslock]

1:56 in the 800? Slightly above Average high school males run faster than that. Looks like a dood, but not anywhere near as fast. Female, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was a Jawanaman.

 

[tycoonist]

beaten with an ugly stick

 

[Weik]

This is the world record holder for 800m:

Maybe you have to look like a man to be good at 800m?

 

[TheLastOne36]

No bulge = Women.

 

[crabapple]

where is the both option?

 

[QuoVadisNation]

It's kind of hilarious and comical that people are upset about this. My initial thought when I saw Caster's face pic was that if she was a woman, she sure got a few masculine features in her. (a lot). But so is that picture in post #44. Her body is female though and a gender test pretty much makes it undeniable. The only question is whether the sports league mandates gender tests liberally or whether this was an one time incidence. And to correct it if anything happened. But It's not unheard for dudes to change gender to win.


Seriously though, I couldn't care less. It's just another row / opportunity for all the crazies who take things too seriously to the point where they distort reality to get the spotlight. And that includes C. Semenya herself.

Best,

 

[IglooDame]

also, she's just another proof for my claims that women and men should compete together.

Oh? How do her times compare to males running the same distances at the same relative level of competition?

 

[Kennigit]

1:56 in the 800? Slightly above Average high school males run faster than that. Looks like a dood, but not anywhere near as fast. Female, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was a Jawanaman.

No, "slightly above average" is not 1:56. Unless "slightly above average" means the top 5 in the state champions in virginia outdoor track and field for both AA and AAA schools.

http://va.milesplit.us/meets/49340/results/93278
http://va.milesplit.us/meets/49266/results/93261

Granted top high school guys are faster than 1:56 consistently, it is far from "slightly above average".

 

[emzie]

In terms of a legal definition of gender, a woman, unless proven otherwise.

... though, there are guys I'd have sex with before her, no offense, dear, you're a great athlete. Can't have everything!

 

[LucyDuke]

Tests have revealed Caster Semenya's testosterone level to be three times higher than those normally expected in a female sample, BBC Sport understands.

Analysis prior to the World Athletics Championships and the 18-year-old's big improvement prompted calls for a gender test from the sport's governing body.

It was made public only hours before the South African, who has been backed by her nation, won the 800m in Berlin.

A high level of the hormone does not always equate to a failed drugs test.

But the news will only increase speculation surrounding Semenya, who arrived back in South Africa to a rapturous welcome on Tuesday.

Hundreds turned out in Johannesburg to greet the teenager, who has stunned the athletics world with her performances this season.

She ran a time of one minute, 56.72 seconds in Bambous in July to smash her previous personal best by more than seven seconds.

She also broke Zola Budd's long-standing South African record and arrived at the World Championships as the newly crowned African junior champion.

Then in Berlin she left her rivals trailing to win gold in a time of 1:55.45.

Defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei was second, a massive 2.45 seconds adrift, with Britain's Jenny Meadows taking the bronze medal.

Only hours before the race, it leaked out that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had demanded Semenya take a gender test amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman.

It has since emerged that news of the test only became public knowledge because a fax was sent to the wrong person.

It has also been revealed that following the findings of initial tests, the South Africans were asked by the IAAF to withdraw her from the team at the World Championships.

Since then, both her family and South African athletics chiefs have leapt to her defence, insisting she is 100% female.

"Caster is a girl. I am not worried about that too much," said her uncle on her arrival back in South Africa.

"Caster is like my child. I know where she comes from. For myself, I know Caster is a girl."

Leonard Chuene, president of Athletics South Africa (ASA), has resigned from his seat on the IAAF board in protest against the organisation's treatment of Semenya.

"It will not be fair for me to attack the IAAF as a council member and representative of South Africa. It is a conflict of interest," Chuene told BBC's Newshour programme.

Chuene also asked that the issue be laid to rest.

"We have not once, as ASA, doubted her," he said. "It's very simple - she's a girl.

"We took this child to Poland to the junior championship under the IAAF. Why was there no story about it? She was accepted there.

"No-one said anything there because she did not do anything special. She is the same girl."

Testosterone levels can vary widely, which makes it hard to detect possible infractions.

When analysis shows an athlete to have a raised level, they are monitored at regular intervals over a set period to establish what their underlying levels would be.

That is then used as a marker for the future, so any sharp differences immediately stand out as suspicious.

An analysis of Semenya's testosterone levels was carried out in South Africa and it is understood that this information contributed to the IAAF's decision to request the ASA carry out a detailed "gender verification" test on the athlete.

Those medical tests are said to be ongoing, with the results not expected for several weeks.

On Sunday, IAAF president Lamine Diack admitted the affair could have been treated with more sensitivity.

"It should not even have become an issue if the confidentiality had been respected," he said. "There was a leak of confidentiality at some point and this led to some insensitive reactions."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8219937.stm

High testosterone would explain her appearance. Doesn't make her a man though.

 

[Flying Pig]

It's a man.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I think I'm leaning towards saying a female taking way too many steroids.

 

[GenMarshall]

She just looks more ripped than the average athletic female.

Careful, you might get the birthers an idea to challenge that too!!

 

[REDY]

She and Kratochvílová(post 44) look like this probably because steroid usage, not because they would be men.

 

[MobBoss]

Well, the results are in: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549021,00.html??test=faces

Report: Champion Runner Has Both Female, Male Sexual Characteristics
Thursday, September 10, 2009
By Karlie Pouliot

Gender tests conducted on 18-year-old track sensation Caster Semenya have determined that the South African woman has both male and female sexual characteristics, Australia's Daily Telegraph is reporting.

Semenya blew away the competition at last month’s IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Berlin. But the runner's stunning times, coupled with her muscular build and deep voice, led many to question whether she was, in fact, a woman.

The IAAF refused to comment on the claim, but earlier in the day general secretary Pierre Weiss said, "It is clear that she is a woman but maybe not 100 percent," the London Times reported.

The International Association of Athletics Federations, the governing body of international track and field, ordered gender tests on Semenya that involved a physical medical evaluation and reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.

The Telegraph, citing an unidentified source, reported that they indicate that Semenya is intersex, with both male and female sexual characteristics.

The IAAF expects to receive the full set of medical results this week, the Telegraph reported.

According to the Telegraph, the tests reportedly showed that Semenya has no uterus or ovaries, and that she has three times more testosterone than a normal woman.

A source closely involved with the IAAF tests said Semenya had internal testes — the male sexual organs that produce testosterone, according to the Telegraph.

As a result, the IAAF could disqualify the South African from future events and strip her of her gold medal, the newspaper reported.

But IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Semenya is likely to keep her gold.

"There is no automatic disqualification of results in a case like this," Davies said. "This is not a doping case at present, so it shouldn't be considered as one where you have a retroactive stripping of results."

According to the National Institutes of Health, intersex, once referred to as hermaphroditism, is a group of conditions where there is a discrepancy between the external genitals and the internal genitals (the testes and ovaries).

Alison Redick, assistant professor of women's studies and a medical historian at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., said this is the kind of case that poses the question: What standards are we using for sex and gender?

“Given that testosterone is not an exclusively male hormone — both male and female bodies produce testosterone and estrogen — where do we draw the line?” Redick asked. “And trying to draw that line is always going to be a problem, regardless of what someone’s biology indicates.”

Gender testing used to be mandatory for female athletes at the Olympics, but the screenings were dropped in 1999. One reason for the change was that not all women have standard female chromosomes.

There are also cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions. The most common cause of sexual ambiguity is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands produce abnormally high levels of hormones.

I guess the thread title should have read: Caster Semenya - Man, Woman, or Both.

But, no uterus, no ovaries, and internal testes? I am thinking man.

 

[Mise]

Both/neither seems to be the clinical judgement. Perhaps she can compete in hermaphrodite/intersex championships?

 

[Yeekim]

Maybe (s)he should adopt a "performer's name": Caster Therem Harth rem ir Semenya?

 

[J-man]

This is a vrey serious breach of her off privacy I think, this leaking of her medical information.

 

[aelf]

It's a man.

It's a man?? How about you're an it, then?

 

[crabapple]

where is the both option?

see I was right!