Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 115, February 2019 | Page 26

OUT OF
THE By BOX
Norrie Williamson
THE POISONED CHALICE
One of the most contentious issues in athletics over the past decade has been the gender issue, and over the coming
weeks it is going to hit the headlines again as the legal boffins battle their way around the IAAF’s proposed rules to define
gender into clear-cut boxes. The Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) case is set to be resolved by end of March, and from
the outset it’s important to unequivocally state that while this will affect Caster Semenya, it is not about Caster Semenya.
The truth is that this affects each and every one of us, to some varying degree.
T
he spectrum of gender is about a natural scenario within the definition of
gender that has existed since the evolution of humans, and one the human
race has tried to ignore, even deny, in sport. There were many Greek and
Roman statues of people shown to be between the two genders. In the past
they were typically called hermaphrodites, and it is only since 1947 that the term
‘intersexed’ has been used. In many cultures, the subject of gender, sex, and the
act of reproduction only started to emerge from a taboo status in the 1960’s. In
other cultures, it remains a subject discussed only in private.
Caster Semenya sometimes appears to be running a separate race
to other athletes
The sad, frustrating truth is that while a spectrum of physicality of gender has
existed, it has taken 2000-plus years for it to be acknowledged. Worse still is that
people appear to remain fixated on the need to be able to classify each person
into two clearly defined genders, male or female, based solely on an outward
appearance that only informs the viewer on a limited level of information.
The biological definition of gender is highly complex, and indeed the issue at stake
in athletics has caused a much deeper investigation of variables in gender over the
past decade. However, in the most recent proposed IAAF rules, this has now, in
simplified terms, primarily been brought down to testosterone levels amongst those
otherwise defined as female on a chromosome basis.
CASTER AT THE FOREFRONT
The primary reason for any perception that these rules are targeting South African
Caster Semenya is the fact that her 2009 case was the first one that was brought
into the public domain. Her success at such a young age, and poor handling of the
previously adopted (unethical) approaches to the subject, catapulted the subject
onto the world stage.
In 2009 her 1:56.76 for 800m set the African Junior Championship record, and
set the ball rolling on a gender-testing procedure that in all previous cases had
been confidentially undertaken. However, in this case the decision to test was
leaked to the media in the days before the 800m final at the Berlin 2009 World
Championships. This saw the world’s athletic and news media all congregated in
one venue, which ensured Semenya’s performances attracted global attention.
This also initiated complaints and objections from other athletes that they were not
competing on an even playing field. This has split the athletics community, forcing
the matter not only to seek resolution, but also keeping it in the public domain. In
simple terms, this is why Caster has been perceived as a sole target for proposed
rule changes, but the fact is that the ruling is expected to affect many others.
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ISSUE 115 FEBRUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Sedres/ImageSA
As with many physical attributes, any population or community has considerable
variations, such as foot size or height, or medical conditions such as asthma or
inherited diabetes. The majority of people fall into the same ‘popular’ ranges, but there
are around 5% to 10% at either end that are unusual, even extraordinary (outside what
is defined by the community as ‘normal’). In scientific or mathematical terms, this is the
inverted U distribution curve. Why would we expect gender to be any different?