T
he single biggest controversy on the
track in 2016 has been what to do
about Caster Semenya. The South African
800m Rio gold medallist self-identifies
and competes as a woman while living with
hyperandrogenism.
Semenya is intersex. Medical records
leaked in 2009 indicate that she has internal
testes, no ovaries or womb and endogenously
produces at least three times the testos-
terone in comparison to the average woman,
99 times out of 100. But last year an inter-
national sport arbitrator ruled that athletes
with hyperandrogenism may compete
without any limiters, saying that there wasn’t
enough evidence to prove that testosterone
is a performance enhancer. The iaaf, track ’s
international governing body, has until July
2017 to provide compelling evidence.
Semenya stormed onto the track scene
in 2009. In just one year, she dropped her
bests from 2:04 .23 to 1:55. 45 as a teenager,
an unheard of performance improvement,
which prompted the iaaf to put her through
a sex verification test. Tactless as it was at the
time, it revealed Semenya’s unfair advan-
tage. She was subsequently ordered to take
testosterone-limiting medication.
From 2009 to 2016 she ran annual
seasonal bests at well under 2:00. Except
during 201 4 , while she was was required to
take hormone medication. Then the best she
could manage was just 2:02 .66.
When the arbiter overturned the iaaf’s
policy, Semenya was back to near world-
record form. The world record of 1:53.28 by
the Czech Jarmila Kratochvílová from 1983has always been viewed as suspicious – as
have most of the next fastest performances
between Kratochvilova’s and Semenya’s,
which currently ranks at 20th all-time.
Unsurprisingly, Semenya was once again
dominant in 2016. She easily ran her personal
best (and again the fastest time of the year in
the world) of 1:55 .28.
A lt hough it would be ridiculous to suggest
that Semenya is at fault for her condition,
and it is not something that she should be
shamed for, hyperandrogenism likely gives
her an unfair advantage.
Many of her competitors are frustrated.
Some have even been cruel. Elisa Cusma
P iccione of Italy said, “For me, she is not a
woman... It is useless to compete with this,
and it is not fair.” Britain’s Lynsey Sharp
said after being easily defeated in Rio, of
racing Semenya that “ it is out of our control
and how much we rely on people at the
top sorting it out. The public can see how
difficult it is with the change of rule but
all we can do is give it our best .” She also
suggested in that interview that her feelings
about Semenya’s unchecked testosterone
levels were echoed by other 800m runners
who finished off the podium.
Canada’s Melissa Bishop is not one of
them. Although at times Bishop has avoided
discussing the subject with the media, she
did tell the Ottawa Citizen, “No one in the
race has control over this. Me missing the
podium is because I didn’t run fast enough,
not because of who was in the race.”
In fairness, Canadian physiologist Trent
Stellingwerff made it clear that there isn’tenough information regarding how much
(if any) performance enhancement exists
when a high level of testosterone is naturally
produced in hyperandrogenous women. It’s
research that desperately needs to be done.
The problem remains that Semenya has
demonstrated anecdotally that elevated
T-levels must be a performance enhancer.
Science has already proven that elevated
levels of testosterone in women can provide
an increase in performance. This is why
wada has banned the use of testosterone.
The only way that the vast majority of
women can elevate their testosterone to the
levels of hyperandrogenous women is to take
performance enhancing drugs. Essentially,
they would have to cheat. This creates a
paradox: do you force a small minority of
athletes to take inhibiting drugs in order to
maintain the parameters of what is “female,”
or do you open up the doping f loodgates?
It’s an impossible problem that’s unfixable
without redefining the fundamental catego-
ries of sport.
Between wada’s ban of testosterone and
Semenya’s demonstration while on and off
the protocol, there appears to be a strong case
that both exogenously and endogenously
elevated testosterone are both indeed perfor-
mance enhancers.
Regardless, her competitors are limited in
their levels of testosterone, while Semenya
is not.
How is that fair?Christopher Kelsall is a contributing editor and
editor of Athletics Illustrated.The
Semenya
Question
Caster Semenya and
other athletes with
hyperandrogenism
have created a
paradoxical situation
in sport: What to do
about an athlete who
has a natural but
potentially massive
advantage over
their competitors?By Christopher Kelsallrunningmagazine.ca Canadian Running 13Antonio Lacerda
running debate