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Punished for a crime not committed
The 29 th Olympics has come and gone and a double Olympic champion was not allowed to compete because of her refusal to undergo drug therapy to cap her testosterone level. I am, of course, referring to Caster Semenya. It is somewhat ironic that a sport that is trying to rid itself of drugs should propose that athletes should take drugs if they wish to take part in certain international events.
The governing body of athletics argues that athletic performance is in some way proportional to the level of testosterone in an athlete’s body and formulated new rules accordingly. In the new rules the level of testosterone permitted is capped at 5 nmol/L. Athletes can undertake drug therapy to lower their level to the cap, but what about athletes that have a low level. Presumably, using the argument of equal opportunity they would be allowed to raise their level to the cap. The result could be that all athletes would be taking drugs; to either raise or lower their testosterone level. Surely nobody wants that. It is argued that the new rules “level the playing field” for female athletes; but, in fact they are “levelling the player”(athlete).
It has recently been announced that a research paper used in formulating the new rules may have been misleading, so what is the way forward from here?
I think that the new rules should be suspended and a new policy formulated. If the compelling urge of the governing body to use the testosterone level remains, then create a formula to adjust race times to a Computer Adjusted (CA) time.
Returning to Caster she must feel as though she has been punished for a crime she hasn’t committed, so I say let her run and adjust her results not her physiology.
It seems that World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has precluded the possibility that the rules may be suspended or cancelled according to the following quotation from BBC teletex 23Aug 21
“DSD rules ‘here to stay’ insists Coe
World Athletics president says the rules that bar female athletes with high levels of testosterone
From participating in events between 400m and a mile are “here to stay”.
It comes after a correction to 2017 data which was part of evidence used to introduce the rules
The correction led to calls for a suspension of the rules for athletes with differences of sexual development’
But Coe said: “We absolutely stand by those regulations.”
What do you think?
The 29 th Olympics has come and gone and a double Olympic champion was not allowed to compete because of her refusal to undergo drug therapy to cap her testosterone level. I am, of course, referring to Caster Semenya. It is somewhat ironic that a sport that is trying to rid itself of drugs should propose that athletes should take drugs if they wish to take part in certain international events.
The governing body of athletics argues that athletic performance is in some way proportional to the level of testosterone in an athlete’s body and formulated new rules accordingly. In the new rules the level of testosterone permitted is capped at 5 nmol/L. Athletes can undertake drug therapy to lower their level to the cap, but what about athletes that have a low level. Presumably, using the argument of equal opportunity they would be allowed to raise their level to the cap. The result could be that all athletes would be taking drugs; to either raise or lower their testosterone level. Surely nobody wants that. It is argued that the new rules “level the playing field” for female athletes; but, in fact they are “levelling the player”(athlete).
It has recently been announced that a research paper used in formulating the new rules may have been misleading, so what is the way forward from here?
I think that the new rules should be suspended and a new policy formulated. If the compelling urge of the governing body to use the testosterone level remains, then create a formula to adjust race times to a Computer Adjusted (CA) time.
Returning to Caster she must feel as though she has been punished for a crime she hasn’t committed, so I say let her run and adjust her results not her physiology.
It seems that World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has precluded the possibility that the rules may be suspended or cancelled according to the following quotation from BBC teletex 23Aug 21
“DSD rules ‘here to stay’ insists Coe
World Athletics president says the rules that bar female athletes with high levels of testosterone
From participating in events between 400m and a mile are “here to stay”.
It comes after a correction to 2017 data which was part of evidence used to introduce the rules
The correction led to calls for a suspension of the rules for athletes with differences of sexual development’
But Coe said: “We absolutely stand by those regulations.”
What do you think?
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