Mokgadi Caster Semenya | IAAF to tell court she should be classified as biologically male

GBBQ

Full Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Messages
4,811
Location
Ireland
Do you really believe Shaq was rubbish at basketball? Define basketball? Because he was an excellent centre.

De Gea is rubbish at football, just an excellent keeper?

Also @GBBQ what is this about Phelps ankles?
Apparently they can bend 15 degrees more than most swimmers

His size-14 feet reportedly bend 15 degrees farther at the ankle than most other swimmers, turning his feet into virtual flippers
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-makes-michael-phelps-so-good1/
 

VeevaVee

The worst "V"
Scout
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
46,263
Location
Manchester
lol Semenya. First time I've seen her. I said to myself "is that feck a woman", then saw the name and remembered this thread.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the other women having to race against Semenyanator.
 

ctp

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
2,992
The three hyperandrogenous starters in the 800m semifinals finished 1st, 1st, 2nd. Normal women competing with them don't seem to have a real chance.
 

spwd

likes: servals, breasts, rylan clark and zooey
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Messages
8,812
Location
Lyecestershyre
Thought this might get a bump , what's that hyper androgynous mean?
 

ctp

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
2,992
Thought this might get a bump , what's that hyper androgynous mean?
So what's your view on her? Should she be able to compete?

Why is Caster Semenya at the centre of controversy?
Even before she stormed to gold in the 2009 World Championships 800m as an 18-year-old, Semenya’s gender was being called into question. News she had been forced to take a gender test leaked out before the championships and the controversy has continued to dog her ever since.

What is hyperandrogenism?
A condition where levels of testosterone are elevated above an arbitrary level in women, giving them characteristics found far more commonly in men. Semenya was deemed to have such elevated levels by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

How much of an advantage does it give her?
A significant one. Semenya ran the 22nd fastest 800m of all time last month, and the fastest for more than eight years, when she clocked one minute, 55.33 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco. No other female athlete has broken 1min 56sec for almost five years.

Watcha think?
 

spwd

likes: servals, breasts, rylan clark and zooey
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Messages
8,812
Location
Lyecestershyre
Thanks bud, was just reading it, still a big grey area, don't know what to think really.
 

Penna

Kind Moderator (with a bit of a mean streak)
Staff
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
49,701
Location
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
I don't recall anybody complaining when Fatima Whitbread was winning golds for Britain.
Fatima Whitbread was a normal biological woman, just heavily-muscled - she got married years back and had a son (edit - I just checked Wiki, she didn't actually ever win an Olympic gold).

 

Brwned

Have you ever been in love before?
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
50,849
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-olympic-spirit-iaaf-athletes-women?CMP=fb_gu

"The image that will stay with me long after the last competitor leaves Rio this week is a decidedly un-Olympic one. Caster Semenya, the women’s 800m gold medallist, extends her arms to fellow competitors Melissa Bishop of Canada and Lynsey Sharp of Great Britain. Sharp, who came in sixth, holds a tearful Bishop, who took fourth, in a tight embrace. Rather than respond to Semenya they remain in their embrace ignoring her. The photo was a sad endnote to one of the most vitriolic media and social media uproars I can recall, one in which the athletes were the casualties. And the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did nothing to quell it."
The article doesn't make any new points but that is a somewhat tragic photo encapsulating how deep the issue goes.
 

K2K

Full Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
18,367
Location
"Can Manchester United score? They always score"
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-olympic-spirit-iaaf-athletes-women?CMP=fb_gu


The article doesn't make any new points but that is a somewhat tragic photo encapsulating how deep the issue goes.
The worst thing is that Caster has done nothing wrong.

It wasn't even her who took the testosterone limiting case to the CAS. When they wanted her to take hormone altering drugs,she simply complied. When it was outlawed,she complied with that.

I'm sorry,but that is no way to treat another human being . She has been through something very few can withstand. Her emotional strength is of the charts.
 

Bubz27

No I won’t change your tag line
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
21,598
Was she legit snubbed by them or does the photo give a false impression?
She was snubbed but she they were mid-embrace with each other and Sharp and Bishop seem to know each other, just from how close they seemed after the race. Semenya gives both a tap on the shoulder, neither really respond but it isn't a snub in the truest sense, but that's my opinion.

1:13 onwards in this video.\

Edit: From the video in the above post, it does seem to be more of a snub. Any gripes they have shouldn't be with Caster herself and it's unfair to treat her as such.
 
Last edited:

Manny

Grammar Police
Joined
Jul 7, 2014
Messages
4,864
She was stating the obvious in the interview but I didn't like her tone.

And looking at the picture and video, it looks like a snub of Semenya. Pretty classless and I thought their sobbing on the track was embarrassing.

I'm against hyperandrogenist athletes competing against women but the rules are the rules and it was out of order to take it out on Semenya in that moment and in front of the world's media.
 

Bubz27

No I won’t change your tag line
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
21,598
"We both know how each other feel."

Can just imagine them being all horrible behind the scenes. I don't like the use of this word, but it just seems so bitxhy.
 

facund

Full Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,353
I watched a BBC documentary on Semenya a few years ago and it was awful to see what she was being put through, I genuinely thought the experience would get the better of her and she would fall off the map. It can't be easy just living life when you so obviously don't fit in to the 'norms' but to live that life in view of the world with so much speculation (and a degree of vitriol) must be horrific.

When the Olympics have countless known drugs cheats welcomed in to compete I find it difficult to take exception to someone that has had to overcome so much adversity (through no fault of her own) since the age of 19 just to be able to run.
 

Laphroaig

Full Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
17,900
Location
Gandhinavia
Wow. How has Sharp's shenanigans been received in the UK? She deserves a public whipping or something for her bizarre self-pity and general classlessness.
 

Andrew~

Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
6,190
So, I do a little bit of powerlifting and I can't explain how much of a difference it would make if an athlete like caster entered in the female competitions. It's not her fault, but I think this is something that needs addressing otherwise it's kind of making a mockery of the competition.

I don't know how a solution would look, unfortunately, but do think she can't keep 'competing' with the other females.
 

Penna

Kind Moderator (with a bit of a mean streak)
Staff
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
49,701
Location
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
So, I do a little bit of powerlifting and I can't explain how much of a difference it would make if an athlete like caster entered in the female competitions. It's not her fault, but I think this is something that needs addressing otherwise it's kind of making a mockery of the competition.

I don't know how a solution would look, unfortunately, but do think she can't keep 'competing' with the other females.
It's very difficult. I keep thinking of Serena Williams who has an equally-muscled physique, which shows that women can achieve that sort of body (presumably by hard gym work). However, she must have normal testosterone levels.
 

ivaldo

Mediocre Horse Whisperer, s'up wid chew?
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
28,701
It's very difficult. I keep thinking of Serena Williams who has an equally-muscled physique, which shows that women can achieve that sort of body (presumably by hard gym work). However, she must have normal testosterone levels.
That's just it, it's incredibly hard on her and of course none of it is her fault but it just isn't fair on the other female competitors. Short of allowing other competitors to take testosterone and introduce a handicap much like in horseracing it's not going to be fair for everyone.
 

Jippy

Sleeps with tramps, bangs jacuzzis, dirty shoes
Staff
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
57,494
Location
Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams
So, I do a little bit of powerlifting and I can't explain how much of a difference it would make if an athlete like caster entered in the female competitions. It's not her fault, but I think this is something that needs addressing otherwise it's kind of making a mockery of the competition.

I don't know how a solution would look, unfortunately, but do think she can't keep 'competing' with the other females.
I see your point and some people are worried about a massive 'influx' of intersex athletes into women's sport, but seriously, how many intersex people are there? Can't imagine that there are armies of them and surely not all will have sporting prowess, regardless of the perceived advantages.
 

jojojo

JoJoJoJoJoJoJo
Staff
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
38,409
Location
Welcome to Manchester reception committee
I see your point and some people are worried about a massive 'influx' of intersex athletes into women's sport, but seriously, how many intersex people are there? Can't imagine that there are armies of them and surely not all will have sporting prowess, regardless of the perceived advantages.
Hmmm, quite a lot. There are loads of variants and depending on which measure you use it's somewhere between 1:100 and 1:1000.

So, by no means rare. Though obviously only a smaller number will have a variant that offers a potential sporting advantage. However, that 800m had three intersex athletes and that's why it's got to be debated - that's either a statistical freak result or a genuine advantage.

It's complex though. Presumably 50 years ago there were intersex athletes competing as women unquestioned. It's modern drug testing in particular that had drawn attention to the topic and ultimately may move the decision away from genetalia into chemistry.

Of course what we decide now, will get challenged again as soon as we start to see genetically modified athletes preparing to compete.
 

Jippy

Sleeps with tramps, bangs jacuzzis, dirty shoes
Staff
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
57,494
Location
Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams
Hmmm, quite a lot. There are loads of variants and depending on which measure you use it's somewhere between 1:100 and 1:1000.

So, by no means rare. Though obviously only a smaller number will have a variant that offers a potential sporting advantage. However, that 800m had three intersex athletes and that's why it's got to be debated - that's either a statistical freak result or a genuine advantage.

It's complex though. Presumably 50 years ago there were intersex athletes competing as women unquestioned. It's modern drug testing in particular that had drawn attention to the topic and ultimately may move the decision away from genetalia into chemistry.

Of course what we decide now, will get challenged again as soon as we start to see genetically modified athletes preparing to compete.
Wow, that's a lot higher than I thought. The time in the 800m was nowhere near the world record though, so not as if they are super-women. Agree it's fantastically complex though and no easy answers.