Caster Semenya: A case that should broaden the debate

“Since she was a child, skirts weren’t her thing, jogging was. She preferred to play soccer rather than her dolls, and shoes with heels were never a predilection over sneakers. And I’m not going to lie to them. On more than one occasion, when I call home on the phone and she answers, I confuse her voice with that of a man. But many times I was the one who changed her diapers. I assure you she is a girl.” The reference is not textual, but it faithfully reproduces the testimony that Jacob Semenya gave to a British media outlet years ago. Jacob, who worked as a garden caretaker in the town of Polokwane, South Africa (one of the venues of the 2010 World Cup), is the father of Caster, one of the most extraordinary athletes of the 21st century. And the protagonist of one of the most controversial episodes of this time.

I witnessed her first sporting “sin” when she was just 18 years old and swept her rivals in the final of the 800 meters of the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, in 2009. Probably the occasion when we saw the most wonderful of all the Usain Bolts who decorated the last decade of athletics.

Even then, her masculine appearance generated not only misplaced comments but even insinuations from some Olympic leaders. It was none other than Nelson Mandela himself who, shortly after the Berlin feat, came out in support of his young compatriot, who had already undergone a sex test that established that there were no external genital anomalies in her, but rather a significant amount of nanomoles of testosterone per liter of blood, well above what is allowed by current regulations. In September of that year, news publications suggested that there were signs of intersexuality in Semenya, which lacked female internal genitalia and, on the other hand, had internal testicles whose functionality generated this excessive level of male hormone. However, no one dared to propose a restriction or to formally report an anomaly that would make the presence of Caster on a track unfair to her colleagues.

Two years later, in Daegu, South Korea, Semenya confirmed her supremacy. Twelve months later, in London, she won the Olympic gold medal and every time she appeared in the Diamond League, two rituals were repeated: her victory and the reluctance of several of her rivals to greet her after the competition.

She won many more races than she lost, and the highlights of the most recent segment of her history included a second Olympic gold, a double podium at the London World Cup (gold in 800 and bronze in 1500) and titles in both distances at the British Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, in 2018.

Could it be the fact that none of these medals were taken away from her once the rule became official (something that happens regularly with doping cases, even a decade after the test was disputed) another argument for the South Africans claim? It makes sense not to have done so because, at the time of the races, no rules prevented her from competing. However, if you intend to argue the matter from a certain point of view of sports justice, there is something that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

The main argument that the authorities finally found to make a decision in this regard began to be whitewashed, not coincidentally, after Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) and Margret Wambui (Kenya) occupied the 800 podium in the Rio Games. The three of them were the most emblematic of the athletes who had to either abruptly adapt to a rule or directly stop competing in the events in which they stood out.

It was only in April 2018 that the body of world athletics announced the new criteria for athletes with high levels of testosterone to be eligible to officially compete... in certain events. Occasionally, over distances between 400 and 1500 meters. In order to compete among women, female athletes had to take a treatment that would lower testosterone levels for a period of at least six months.

At this point, the confrontation between Caster and the then IAAF (now World Athletics) began to cover international doctors’ offices, laboratories and courts. All well away from the tracks.

Official arguments regarding protecting the right of female athletes to participate in competitions under fair conditions with regard to gender characteristics are not questionable. However, it should not be overlooked that these issues were ruled out by allowing these girls to compete without treatment over distances where, it is argued, testosterone levels do not have a decisive influence on the outcome. To what extent is the approach only technical or scientific and to what extent is gender respected? Should Semenya, who, like Niyonsaba or Wambui, have official documents that say “sex: female” artificially alter their organism or, in the tests in question, compete with men?

The debate regarding the degree of invasion of privacy is still alive. Semenya, reluctant to undergo treatment, reappeared unsuccessfully competing in the 5000 meters of the Oregon World Cup this year. And many of us have the feeling that scientific resources at the service of sports spent a decade looking for arguments that would justify measures that, in reality, were born by two main factors: sporting success and the prejudice of those who were guided by appearances.

Not because of what Caster IS. But because of what it seemed.