Olympics: where women can be women...

sports illustrated

The Olympics throws up a really fascinating issue. As we applaud the continued march of progress for individual self expression and acceptance, where does defining athletes as male or female evolve? In the case of sports, not so much an issue for male, as for female. Because the extra mass and muscle of males does make them stronger and faster than women, then those entering as male need only worry about performance enhancing drugs and other dastardly ways to improve performance. But for females, what happens when a competitor seems to be naturally more "masculine"?

Sports Illustrated had an interesting article laying out some of the history and testing around Caster Semenya of South Africa, asking "Is it fair for Caster Semenya to compete against women at the Rio Olympics?".

Then on winning the 800m gold, there were not shortage of comments on either side, including beaten GB finalist Lynsey Sharp criticises rule changes over 'obvious' hyperandrogenous women:
"Last week, Sebastian Coe indicated the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) would challenge the Court of Arbitration ruling which suspended the monitoring of female athletes with higher than usual levels of testosterone....But others have launched a #handsoffcaster campaign online as a human rights debate rages on her continued involvement."