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?

she looks like her mum doesn't she!!

someone mentioned earlier on the thread about photos of Caster when she was a bit younger has a few right near the end (around photo 45)

another one of her running in March this year here

and have a look at this photo of Mutola - take away the long hair and you're left with what we in the west would probably describe as a "masculine" face (imo)

Sorry your right my answer was a bit vague. What i ment to say he was running a full second quicker than any u15 boys in england. So he was very quick as a boy.
My concern is not that she looks like a man, many athletic women look like men. Your example of maria matola is correct.
What I have always said is that I am suspicious of her dramatic improvement. It is highly unusual. This is why the IAAF started looking at semenya in the first place, because of her dramatic improvement. So she was drugs tested and found to have 3x the amount of normal testosterone, which is why they asked for a gender test. Not because she looks like a man.

Everyone has differing levels of testosterone so to combat the usage of differing anabolic drugs athletes are tested a number of times over a period of months to get their average testosterone levels.
If this level then suddenly increases when tested they can then detect the use of drugs. (a very simplified version)

is this her? she certainly does look male.

Poor her though, what a way to find out you have a complex gender issue.

Apparently it has just been announed that she has "hidden testes" and is actually a hermaphrodite. She has gone into hiding.

Poor girl.

oh the poor woman link here

Is that report is true what a horrible shock for her, no womb or ovaries either

I feel sorry for her - but I think it's only fair that she's disqualified from future competition. The other competitors who train every bit as hard as she does would never, ever be able to beat her.

Good grief, poor girl. Athletics authorities should be shot - a. for the original public humiliation and b. for leaking yet again. Bastards.

the IAAF have said to ignore the reports from Australia re the hermaphrodite claims.
And 3 x level of testosterone does not make a man! Apparently many female athletes have elevated levels, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf for example allegedly.

well yes they've said to ignore the reports as they still have to go to another panel to be verified.

But how often are these leaks (that we're told to ignore) wrong?

Mark Porter has added a comment to his article here saying if the leaked reports are true, then a diagnosis of AIS is the most likely one. In which case Caster is not a hermaphrodite but a genetic male who has been reared as a girl. .

Well said Edam.

I just hope the poor lass has some very kind experienced people to help her through the next few months.

"The other competitors who train every bit as hard as she does would never, ever be able to beat her. " You could probably say the same about all 100m runners competing against Usain Bolt atm.

Well, quite - Usain Bolt is way ahead of any other competitor even when his laces come undone!

Does anyone else think there are overtones here of 'it's not very ladylike to win'? Like ye olden days when our Great-Grannies were not supposed to play sport in case it stopped them having babies?

Every human being, male and female, has testosterone coursing round their body. Some have more than others. When does that tip over from normal variation amongst the members of either gender into being 'unfair'?

when you have testes and no womb, I guess.

Yeah but even if its true she could hardly have known could she?

Ok so no womb = no periods but some women dont start til late teens and intensive athletics training could well be asumed to have disrupted them.

Undescended testes - well, how would you know???

well no, she's not to blame. Shouldn't be allowed to compete again against women though.

Trouble is, what should she do now? Suspect she's been left with nothging- fromthe atheletes I now (incredibly few) school, friendships and pretty much anything else that might carry you into the future gets abandoned if you'rdoing well.

At the very least, sympathy is due.

"Does anyone else think there are overtones here of 'it's not very ladylike to win'? Like ye olden days when our Great-Grannies were not supposed to play sport in case it stopped them having babies? " Nah, not really - Kelly Holmes was feted for winning, as are many other top female athletes. Look at Rebecca Adlington, for example.

Agree, Beth - if she's not to compete against women, what can she do? She's a fantastic runner, no doubt, and that's not just having an intersex condition - she's built to run, and has the discipline to train. But she would struggle against men so where does she go from here?

"'it's not very ladylike to win'? Like ye olden days when our Great-Grannies were not supposed to play sport in case it stopped them having babies?
"

i've heard a few people on here suggest this and level criticisms of it being a case of thinly veiled mysoginy because a woman is good at sports and doesn't look like a playboy bunny, but i really just don't see it, simply because there have been countless womens athletic events with women excelling and breaking records who have not been the prettiest (not saying it matters but just trying to keep with the logic of the argument) and i have never seen anything like this. why have other female athletes been lauded and broken records to media acclaim. i have a lot of sympathy for her being at the centre of this media shit storm and the governing bodies fuck-ups, and i do accept that the coverage surrounding it has left her open to a lot of mysoginy and has made her the punchline of a lot of comedians jokes, but i don't think that there was any sexist motivation at the root of the enquiry.