to think Lynsey Sharp should keep her sour grapes to herself?

[WrinklyBathToes]

I can't help but feel for Caster Semenya, poor lass has been subjected to all sorts of medical interventions and whispers. It's not actually her fault, it's a natural blip, why should she be subjected to all this bitching from the losers?

[Lurkedforever1]

I'm really torn on this. On the one hand, I agree it's very unfair on the other athletes, but on the other it is the same principle as any other natural or historical advantage. And I think any life advantage of a gold medal must be easily eclipsed by the reality of daily life for caster. I doubt she is delighted by her medical condition and the criticism it evokes.

I think what worries me more is that it paves the way for allowing transsexual men to compete against females. Caster of course isn't a transsexual, and hasn't chosen her medical condition. But if her levels of testosterone are allowed, what's to stop a trans male competing under the same ruling?

[derxa]

Sometimes the minority have to take the hit Yes sadly that should be the case AF

[OurBlanche]

I wish I had proof read that... sorry

[AnyFucker]

spare I have an opinion on the potential trans ruling too

I can multi task like that

[2rebecca]

There may be little concrete science but there are many years of evidence showing that elite male 800m runners are faster than female elite 800m runners. If there was no difference between men and women then the records would be similar, They aren't. The average male elite athlete in most sports can run faster, jump higher, cycle faster, ski faster, lift heavier weights than the average female athlete.
It isn't just about testosterone.

[derxa]

Some countries might start to target inter sex people and train them up as athletes if this is allowed to continue.

[bakeoffcake]

"Normal" females may as well just pack up and go home. They don't stand a chance and never will, competing against people with 3x their testosterone levels.

I felt very sorry for Lynsey Sharp, the situation must be so frustrating.

[frikadela01]

But she has been raised as a girl from the start of her life, and if press reports are to be believed, was unaware of her hormone issues until the opposition starting complaining against her during the completion calendar.

There's no denying that she was raised as. Female but I find it slightly hard to believe that she was completely unaware of her hormone issues prior to the gender testing. Presumably she has never had a period. What women would get to 18 years old having never had a period and not at least suspected something was amiss.

[bakeoffcake]

I agree dextra

[OurBlanche]

Ourblanche would you believe it to be acceptable for female athletes to inflate their testosterone levels to that of Semenya? If they began this programme of inflating testosterone from a young age, to provide increased lung capacity etc.

Nope.

1. Caster Semenya and other intersex athletes have not done anything to increase their testosterone levels. They have a naturally occurring condition... like Paula Radcliffe, Steve Redgrave... phyiologically different.
   

1. I don't believe any athlete should take any drug that 'engineers' a response greater than training would.
   

1. The levels of testosterone in intersex athletes may or may not be the whole reason for their performance. Until we know it owuld be madness to consider mediacl engineering.... and after we know it would be even more so, given the already known side effects of high levels of testosterone in both the male and female body!
   

That and the Eastern Bloc used similar tactics for decades and it wasn't always succesfull, left lots of young people wthout family life, education or career, some with the prospect of lifelong illness....

[2rebecca]

I think we struggle to get women as interested in sport anyway and to keep competing when they hit puberty. If they then see all the top awards in their sport going to people who are genetically male they will decide it's not worth all the effort.
Women's sport will die, at least at the very top level.

[HermioneWeasley]

lurked the IOC do allow trans women (ie biological males) to compete against women as long as their testosterone is within the limits (lower end of normal for men, but still a level at which you can father children, and no biological woman could ever hope to achieve without a medical condition or doping)

The trans ruling is outrageous

I have sympathy for intersex women, but if the top 3 places were all taken by intersex individuals, then it clears confers an unfair advantage and makes segregating by male/female pointless.

We need to celebrate female athletes and achievement, it matters to a whole generation of girls who are watching.

My view would be not to allow them to compete, or to have a third category. I accept that's really hard on the women with the condition, but there are lots of medical conditions that rule you out from a career as an athlete.

[bakeoffcake]

"Unaware of her hormone issues"

I very much doubt it, have you heard her speak? She has an extremely deep voice for a woman, hence she sounds just like a man, as well as having the body of one.

[shins]

It's an appalling travesty. I agree re the minority unfortunately taking the hit. I sympathise with Caster Semenya but why is she more important than all women and their right to a fair playing field in sport? It's similar with the trans threads that crop up here -women always seem to come last.

Can you imagine men's reaction if they were being robbed of Olympic medals by intersex athletes? Don't think they'd be so kind or understanding.

[sparechange]

frika
It is very very common for elite female athletes to not have regular or any periods.
Chrissy Wellington, Paula Radcliffe, Jo Pavey and plenty of others have talked about it, as well as their fear of having fertility issues later in life after spending so many years without periods.
I don't think it would be something that would automatically ring alarm bells at all...

[derxa]

It's sad but I don't think anyone has any respect at all for the Rio result.
Yes and it was uncomfortable to watch. Just like watching the doping cheats win races.

[AlecTrevelyan006]

I have a lot of sympathy for Lynsey Sharp - and also Caster Semenya. It's all a bit of a mess.

As a slight aside, if Semenya was competing as a male her PB of 1.55.28 would rank her 267th fastest in the UK for 2016.

[OurBlanche]

They don't stand a chance and never will, competing against people with 3x their testosterone levels. Every female strength athlete has 3 or more times the testosterone of a normal woman... that's why they train...

Until puberty, children do not experience an acute increase in testosterone from a bout of resistance exercise; after puberty some acute increases in testosterone from resistance exercise can be found in boys but not in girls. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058750

So who knows how an intersex body reacts? Well, we may in a few more years....

[AnyFucker]

shins of course women are meant to just STFU about these issues, just like the trans lobby would have them do

Didn't you know that ?

[BroomhildaVonShaft]

Do we actually know what her testosterone levels are though? What if they don't exceed the 10nmol level set as the maximum for trans women competitors?

[LunaLoveg00d]

As a slight aside, if Semenya was competing as a male her PB of 1.55.28 would rank her 267th fastest in the UK for 2016.

Which really confirms that she is intersex - between the performances expected of a man and a woman.

[derxa]

sparechange
Paula Radcliffe: She gave birth to her first child, daughter Isla, in 2007.Her second child, a son, Raphael, was born in 2010.

[AnyFucker]

Many elite female athletes do not have regular menstrual cycles because of their massive training schedules and keeping their weight artificially low

But that is (hopefully) reversible...as evidenced by at least two of the women you quoted have conceived children either when they stopped competing or took a break from competing (at the highest level)

[MumOnTheRunCatchingUp]

I'm with Lyndsey Sharp all the way on this one