Caster Semenya Gender Dispute in Women 800 Meter Race
South Africa’s gold medal winner Caster Semenya won a gold medal for the Women’s 800m final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, but the win is shrouded by controversy. Caster is suspected of being a man who ran a woman’s race.
South Africa’s ruling party on Thursday leapt to the defense of a world champion runner undergoing a gender verification test, saying she was the country’s "golden girl" and a role model for young athletes.
Caster Semenya, whose rapid improvement over last year prompted the test, won the women’s world 800 meters title with a crushing performance in Berlin on Wednesday.
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) General Secretary Pierre Weiss said an investigation into Semenya’s gender was under way in South Africa and Berlin.
He said the IAAF gave the 18-year-old the benefit of the doubt and allowed her to compete but if the investigation proved she was not female the result of the race would be withdrawn.
"We condemn the motives of those who have made it their business to question her gender due to her physique and running style. Such comments can only serve to portray women as being weak," the African National Congress said in a statement.
"Caster is not the only woman athlete with a masculine build and the International Association of Athletics Federation should know better."
Semenya clocked 1 minute, 55.45 seconds for the year’s fastest time and a personal best by more than a second.
A group of doctors, including an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist have started the gender test but the results may not be known for days, if not weeks.
The father of Caster phoned in for an interview where the father continued to refer to Caster as "him" throughout the entire interview below.
After the race Caster was interviewed below, and Caster spoke with the obvious voice of a man, and showed all the physical characteristics, and mannerisms of a man as well in the pictures below. In our opinion, Caster is a man who should not have been allowed to run in a woman’s race.
Below we included a video of the entire race. There is no way a woman, racing against other women, could possibly have that kind of a lead, and not even look winded after the race.
If she has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), which is an XY chromosome (male chromosome), she will have undecended testies which appear as two subtle bulges on her pubic crest, BUT she has no androgen receptors. With no androgen receptors the body cannot use the testosterone produced by the testis is converted into estrogen. At puberty they grow breasts and become curvy but do not have a period. With this being the case the Olympics have made it LEGAL for these people to participate in women events because they have no hormonal or physical advantage.
I’m sorry but as a “hermaphrodie” there is more male there then female. She has no womb, no ovaries, no breast AT ALL, arm and chest structure of a male, a 12 pack, hair on her stomach, probably waxes every week to keep the facial hair at bay, has internal testes and produces 3 times the amount of testosterone then a woman. Sorry but her unsual genetic makeup is leaning more toward MALE then female to me. Just gotta keep it real. She should have been raised as a male.
I really hate that they are doing that to her.. i mean if she would have lost nothing more would have been said about it but becasue she won and destroyed the other girls her gender is put in question. It can very well be a condition that she has no control over. She wouldnt get that far for womens track if she was a man. Now i know her apperance may say one thing but come on she works out she can have that. I dont think she should be striped of her metal. She earned it . And too all the slime bags who hate on her get a freakin life the girl got skills.. Caster keep your head up because at the end of the day you did something not alot of people get to do.. You won
What a media circus. I have a friend who has given birth to 2 beautiful children, but she looks like a guy. Turns out she makes about 20% more testosterone in her body then what is considered normal for women. Gives her a very manly appearance.
Why? I ask, did the gender testing not take place before the competition. I have a strong suspicion that it was all for the purpose of bringing attention to the sport of track and field. Someone could have stopped this circus of controversy.
By the way, I absolutely laughed my head off at The Dude’s comments.
she got to be a man. when i first saw her picture i sed to my self that she is a man.
watch shes really a girl.. thats f’d up
No boobs. Check
Man body. Check
Mustache. Check
Man face. Check
Possible man groin. Check.
Man legs. Check
Looks like a woman to me.
TheDude,
Your comment made me bust out laughing. Great comment. Thank you.
I completely agree that the whole manner is being handled insensitively. The investigation could have occurred privately and not dragged through the media. Unfortunately, when you are in the limelight, the media and other individuals will be insensitive.
What is typical though is the quick response of “it’s racial” that I’ve read in other articles. Does racism exist? Absolutely, but both sides have people who keep it alive.
SoulKid’s comments make a good point. The only question I have is, when was the world ever sensitive? It is more the push to expect people to be more sensitive that gives the appearance it is more insensitive. Personally, I believe people should be more sensitive and have found being sensitive is not based upon race or gender. It is strictly a personality trait.
I was almost in tears when i heard about the gender test they conducted on this girl
How humiliating!
Did they have to tell the whole world?
They’ve known about her for some time now
Why didn’t they do the tests then?
Is it because she won
Her mother says she is a girl, how dare anyone questions that
She wouldn’t run a woman’s race if she knew she was male
People’c comments have been so harsh and insensitive
How would one feel if someone was questioning their gender infront of the whole world
Shame on all of you posting nasty comments in blogs about Caster
Keep your head up girl and do your thing
Don’t mind all the people calling you names.
Karma will sort them out
Have u guys ever considered that if she wanted to fool anyone she would have tried to look more feminine to avoid these accusations?
Like anyone else i can see she clearly looks like a man but thats not to say she really is one.I guess y’all have’t heard of AIS(Androgen insensitivity syndrome). If Caster is really male, chances are she doesn’t even know it. Look it up and maybe y’all will start being a lil sensitive to this issue.
Even IAAF officials say even if she’s found to be male its not her fault.It could be a condition that she has no control over.
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SMH The world has become so insensitive.She’s only 18.She’s someone’s lil girl.
SouLKid – it was refreshing and enlightening to read your post thankyou, I hope that people take into consideration your words before they judge.