Caster Semenya has elevated testosterone levels

[SpawnChorus]

Here

Assuming that they are naturally elevated (and there's no reason to think otherwise), don't you think that it's fair for her to compete with other women? Apparently the regulators are now deciding whether this gives her an "unfair advantage" but surely differences in physique and biochemistry are a huge part of any athlete's success? Would an athlete be disqualified for having unusually long legs, or exceptionally large lungs? Why does a natural excess in hormones be different?

I don't think it is sexism SGB, perhaps I'm being naive, but all athletes undergo drug testing, and testosterone is a known performance enhancer. All women have naturally occuring testosterone, but it has been known for women to take supplements to this, among other drugs. Male athletes testosterone levels are checked too.

I think it's wrong to claim sexism, when it's part of routine testing.... women will never be able to compete equally (or as equally as their physical differences allow) if we question testing that on the surface appears totally legitimate. Whether she has higher levels of testosterone because she has some naturally occuring hormone disruption, or because she has been taking something, she should be subjected to the same testing as other athletes. It's obvious to just about everyone that she had some kind of hormone inbalance. Why shouldn't they test to see if it's naturally occuring or artificial?

Semenya should get fake breasts,fake hair and grow 10 inch nails to prove that she is in fact a woman.

I am absolutely disgusted that this 18yo girl's medical assessment has become public property. Her dignity has been abused, her privacy invaded and the IAAF should hang their heads in shame. Until the situation has been investigated and assessed, it should have remained private, not put out for the sport of public and invasive voyerism.

Martina Navratilova use to be described as butch and currently Serena Williams has to put up with such puerile and misogynist taunts too.

The media only like dainty or whore-type women. Anybody who does not fall into those categories is derided. No wonder so many girls have such low self-esteem.

who was the woman with fake breasts and nails, what was her name? la something. wasn't she accused of being a man?

Do you mean Flo Jo Griffiths? Isn;t she dead?

Completely agree with Spokette.

Thanks.

Yes SGB. She died of a heart attack aged 38.

I agree with Spokette too. I am appalled at the way she (Caster) has been treated.

Apparently her coach is a former eastern bloc coach who has some sort of cloud oveer his post concerned with giving female athletes male hormones, I read that one of his athletes ended up had a full sex change female to male due to their effect.

I am cynical but I can't help wondering how they got together.

Personally I think she has too many male traits to fairly compete.

I too think the way she has been treated so far is appalling. But it's not true to say that she has been gradually improving etc. She hasn't. 13 months ago she was 34th out of 36 in her event. Since then she has knocked over 16 seconds off her times to become the best in the event this year. If we had only those facts to go on there is no way the suspicion of drugs would not be raised - those facts are simply not credible. I think this will turn out to have nothing to do with gender eventually, but everything to do with drugs. Whether she is an unwitting pawn or not, given the coach's history, I don't know.

This is a shame but it's TERRIBLE that her coach hasn't had her properly screen IMO as she clearly looks like a candidate for some intersex condition. Poor girl.

(I mean properly screened BEFORE she was thrust into the global limelight)

Women with poly-cystic ovary syndrome (which is incredibly common) have raised testosterone levels. It doesn't make them male. It makes them female with a slightly different hormonal balance to the majority.

Yes I feel its really bad how she has been treated. I do however find it deeply suspicious how she can knock 17 seconds of her PB at 18 in a year. If she was an 11 year old who has just started their first winter training that would be pretty normal. But she has not just come into training, she has been a junior athlete. All top atheletes train hard all year round just to knock of a couple of seconds in 800m would be normal. What would be useful is to see a picture of her from a year ago to now, to see how her body has changed. Oh and the world records for women in the 800m are from known drug cheating countries at the time. The record has stoof for around 25 years. But as the women never tested positive the records still stand. Just like Flo Jo in the 100m. She rean 10.49 and noone has ever got close except marrianne jones, who is a drugs cheat.

May I just say I am aghast to see I have written XY for woman and YY for man WTF is a YY?!? My GOD I am more sleep deprived than I realized and just decided this instant that some sleep training is in order for 3 month old DS

V. good point from neolara about PCOS and how common it is. (My sister for one, who definitely is a girl and has a dd to prove it.)

Don't think anyone should be speculating based on her appearance - I certainly have no idea what the average girl who comes from her particular part of S Africa looks like, they may not conform to the Western Barbie ideal for all I know. So what, doesn't make them any less female.

If her coach turns out to be dodgy, and to have used testosterone supplements or something, that would be terrible, of course.

cascade that's not true that no-one has come close - several have come close (10.49 current world record) 10.73 world leading performance this year.

Also end of last year a young Kenya set a new Youth World Record for the 800m that was only about 30 seconds off the senior world record (and faster than Caster ran at the Worlds last month).

actual progression of her speed went from

2:11:98 at the World Juniors (08/07/2008) (at which point her PB/Season Best was actually 2:08:00)

2:04:23 in Pune (16/10/2008)

so 4 seconds off her season best

Then 1:55:45 in Berlin 19/08/2008

(can't find what her previous seasons best was for 2009?)

alwayslookingfor answers- Yes but in athletic terms 10.73 to 10.49 is miles in athletics terms. Its over 0.2 tenths. (which is a lot).

To put that time in context its similiar time difference between Usain Bolts world record and tyson gay, who came 2nd in the world championships. Bolt won it by a mile. When your a world class runner you do not knock that much of your time in one season. Usain Bolt ran 10seconds flat when he was a 15 year old. Its took him 6/7 years for him to reach the top.

actually Usain Bolt had a PB of 10.03 in 2007 when he was definitely older than 15. Which he improved to 9.69 in 2008, and then 9.53 this year.

ahh maybe my memory is not as good, il take your word for it. What i meant is bolt has always been known in athletics circles since he was a 15 year old junior (everyone knew he had huge potential) and he has made steady progress throughout the years. He was a 200m runner in his junior years and only started specialising in 100m in the last few years. Although there has always been rumours about jamacian athletics regarding drugs.

Im not saying semenya takes drugs, im just saying its very suspicious and thats why the IAAF started looking at her because of the unusual improvement.

You don't need to take my word for it - the IAAF website has the information on there. Must say his times as a junior don't strike me as particularly "promising" 21.73 just before his 15th birthday. All of the runners in the Juniors finals (200) ran quicker than that although they were possibly a little older?. Did no-one question how Bolt suddenly ran over a second faster no - because it co-incided with getting much better sporting coaching.

the only "suspicions" I have is that she may have a gender disorder of some type such as this woman was proved to have. It would appear her case was equally badly handled.

I should imagine Casters own move from a fairly rural, and I should imagine pretty poor, school to Pretoria University and access to a better coach probably had quite a lot to do with it. Possibly along with a gender disorder which she would have had no previous idea about being banded out across the world media like some sort of freak show.

Yes i believe bolt was 14 when he ran that time and that is extremely fast for a 14 year old. The best sprinters in britain run over a second slower. I believe Bolt had a serious injury a few years ago and that effected his performance when transitioning from junior to senior level and that he also did not take athletics seriously when he was a teenager. I think he holds the world junior 200m record. I could be wrong though

To be honest I dont read all the sats from a webpage. I coach athletics to a high level and also competed at a reasonable level so I have learnt my athletics from that.

Semenya was running a time a year ago that was equal to our best u15 year old in Britain. In a little less than a year she has gone from an average level to worlds best. Unfortunately that is always going to draw suspicion from the athletic wolrd.

Remeber the chinese in the 90s, there runners were suddenly winning all the long distance events by miles IAAF became suspicious and turned out they were using human growth hormone.

Fact is athletes do not run average times and within a year are world champions.

so at 17 she was running at the same speed as Britain best u15......and???

I'm not sure what you mean by the best British athletes run over a second slower (I'm possibly being blonde but I'm not sure which time/age/person you're talking about at that bit )

Apparantly Caster was asked to take the test 2 weeks prior to competing but she refused and the whole saga was leaked out by accident.

She has a very deep voice.