A South African teenager will be forced to take a test to prove she is a woman after storming to victory Wednesday in the 800-meter sprint at the world championships.
Caster Semenya's dominating run, which she won by a massive 2.45 seconds, came on the same day track and field's ruling body said she was undergoing a gender test because of concerns she does not meet requirements to compete as a woman.
About three weeks ago, theinternational federation asked South African track and field authorities to conduct the verification test. Semenya had burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of 1:56.72 at the African junior championships in Maruitius.
Her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender. Ideally, any dispute surrounding an athlete is dealt with before a major competition. But Semenya's stunning rise from unknown teenage runner to the favorite in the 800 happened almost overnight. That meant the gender test — which takes several weeks — could not be completed in time.
Perhaps we should start conducting gender tests on men. It sounds like the green eyed monster has struck her competition. I hope she can sue the hell out of the people who brought these issues up if she is a woman.
I don't know... The person in the photo looks like a man to me. If it turns out that she really is a woman, I would wonder if she's on steroids. The East Germans were known to give their female athletes huge doses of male hormones and I've heard stories about other Eastern European female athletes who may have been men. (That's why they started conducting gender tests to begin with.) So it has happened in the past.
While I wouldn't want an innocent woman accused of something she didn't do (or of being somebody she's not), at the same time I don't want an honest athlete deprived of her medals because the competitor who won is really a man or taking steroids.