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As a female athlete, I’m disgusted by the backlash against Caster Semenya

Caster Semenya, the 800m runner who won Olympic gold at London 2012, will miss the London Anniversary Games this weekend to compete in Monaco. Semenya has been unfairly discriminated against for years because she challenges perceptions of what it is to be a woman by daring to have a testosterone level higher than the average. Once again, Semenya is being forced to undergo scrutiny and judgement following a new regulation that explicitly targets her and other female athletes with naturally elevated testosterone in a thin band of events ranging from 400m to the mile.

As a female athlete, I feel this is unfair, irrational, and unjustifiable. The Eligibility Regulations for Female Classification, introduced this April by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), basically requires some female athletes to undergo medically unnecessary interventions to lower their testosterone levels as a precondition to race internationally, meaning women like Semenya are being told they can’t compete at elite levels using the bodies they were born with.

The IAAF believe the new policy will “preserve fair and meaningful competition in the female classification”. In fact the regulations stigmatise and perpetuate the constant scrutiny that many female athletes suffer. It also stands to legitimise the discrimination against women in sport who do not adhere to gender stereotypes. In the IAAF’s attempt to level the playing field and become inclusive, they have actually become exclusive. The uncomfortable truth of this regulation is that the ones who are affected are primarily women of colour in the global south, which feels a little bit too much like blatant racism to me.

Participation in sport should be a human right and no woman should be required to change her body to compete. Sport not only empowers and transforms individuals and communities, but it has the power to bridge gaps in religion and politics and can be used as a vehicle for epic proportions of social good. Sport has the power to change the world and we must strive to seek solidarity in creating a world where sport is inclusive for everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or gender expression, so that everyone has access to the infinite benefits.

Gender is not black and white, it needs to be recognised as more of a continuum made of many shades of grey. A lot of the talk about this is on Caster Semenya’s shoulders as because of her sporting ability and appearance, she stands out. An estimated four per cent of births are intersex, it is perfectly normal and there are many athletes out there that fall into this grey area. The IAAF divides competition into male and female classifications because male athletes have clear performance advantages in terms of size, strength and power. So, where does this male-vs-female athleticism leave people who are intersex and should they be prohibited from competing in a women’s league?

Some women athletes with high testosterone have an advantage of up to nine per cent over women with normal levels of testosterone, but does that really make it an “unfair advantage”, or is that just their physical advantage in competitive sport? It is not so entirely different to Michael Phelps’s double-jointed ankles and elbows, or Peter Crouch's height, but these sportsmen aren’t forced to undergo invasive treatment until they meet what Sebastian Coe and the IAAF deem is unacceptable.

Why is the only factor being discussed the one that targets women who aren’t “feminine” enough? This is sport, not a beauty pageant. All elite athletes have natural genetic and/or biological advantages, and there are so many factors we could look at that significantly enhance individuals sporting potential.

Testosterone levels are clearly not the epitome of athletic ability, even the IAAF’s own study says that women with higher testosterone levels do not have a significant advantage in middle-distance races. Barney Cullum reports bigger differences were recorded in the hammer throw and pole vault than the 400m and 800m. So why are neither hammer throwers nor vaulters subject to the new regulations?

Last week, over 60 professional athletes, with fairly impressive sporting titles from two-time Olympic gold medallists to world champions, penned an open letter from Athlete Ally and Women’s Sports Foundation demanding the IAAF rescind their flawed discriminatory testosterone policy, and I stand firmly alongside these athletes in the pursuit of an equitable and inclusive athletic experience.

Steve Cornelius, who resigned from the IAAF’s disciplinary tribunal on the introduction of the regulation, said “The adoption of the new eligibility regulations for female classification is based on the same kind of ideology that has led to some of the worst injustices and atrocities in the history of our planet,” and I inescapably agree.

Caster Semenya is not the danger to women sport here. The male officials who are using science to control women and crush their potential seem the real danger to me. I find it deeply troubling that we are stripping women of their dignity by forcing them to take testosterone-suppressing medicine to protect a western ideal of femininity and conformity. As Anna Kessel says, “in seeking to define the boundaries of womanhood – our genetics, our apparel, our most intimate parts and experiences – women are being policed. Worryingly, the very rules designed to protect us are becoming our oppressors.”

Caster Semenya is, for all intents and purposes, a woman. She was raised as a woman, she identifies as a woman. Caster says “I just want to run naturally, the way I was born. It is not fair that I am told I must change. It is not fair that people question who I am. I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast.”

I respect that Semenya is both a woman and also a phenomenal athlete. We do not need protecting from her. We need to celebrate not only her strength and athletic ability but also her resilience. Semenya has already endured an exile from the sport to undergo gender tests as a teenager, and the lack of tact and discretion by officials and the press constantly commenting upon her since has been utterly humiliating. I know I am ironically implicit in this by again commenting upon her story, but I hope the rise of athletes supporting Semenya and challenging the fundamental flaws in this policy will ensure the rights of all women are safeguarded and protected in the future.