Caster Semenya killed them!

[The_Pumpkin_King]

well done!

we got a gold and she absolutely raped them by 50+ metres!

annoys me that they keep praising the pom

1st) 1.55.45
2nd) 1.57.90

lmao

 

[APoc184]

That was lovely.

Now to get the test done and prove she is a woman.
If she continues at this rate she will smash the World Record within the next 6 months

 

[LancelotSA]

Ridiculous that they are questioning her sex. I wonder if they ever tested Maria Mutola?

 

[APoc184]

Ridiculous that they are questioning her sex. I wonder if they ever tested Maria Mutola?

I asked exactly the same thing.

 

[killadoob]

Lance i think if anyone questions them they will test.

Rather be 100% sure than let a man break world records and end up looking stupid in my opinion.

Not everyone trusts every person they meet. Many people lie and cheat and i would rather check and be sure. Also they need to show people if they think you are a man they will test or what is stopping men from trying the same thing?

 

[APoc184]

The world record is 1:53.28 set by Jarmila Kratochvílová in München on the 26 July 1983.

How great would it be if she can take another 2+ seconds of her time and smash this 26 year old record.

 

[Sting]

My sports reporter buddy commented in Divine style: Walks like a man, Talks like a man....

 

[LancelotSA]

Lance i think if anyone questions them they will test.

Rather be 100% sure than let a man break world records and end up looking stupid in my opinion.

Not everyone trusts every person they meet. Many people lie and cheat and i would rather check and be sure. Also they need to show people if they think you are a man they will test or what is stopping men from trying the same thing?

So then should they not just test every woman? Some people may just be too polite to question someone's sexuality.

 

[sybawoods]

It's far too soon to be celebrating this one. I really hope that Caster get's to keep her medal, but there's a good chance that the silver medallist get's handed gold in a few week's time, that bronze get's silver, and so forth.

It is a horrible situation for Caster, and one that could have been handled a lot better by Athletics South Africa, who clearly have a naiive understanding of gender testing. It is more than simply having male or female private parts.

There's a very informative article about Caster over at sportsscientist.com - which provides a really balanced insight into the issue of gender testing, and the complexity of hermaphroditism - which could lead to a girl developing secondary male characteristics, even when having no male sexual organs.

"President of ASA, Leonard Cheuene, knows something like that will create a huge controversy. How are we going to do it besides asking her to show us her private parts?” quipped Manyaka.

And then this one, from her coach:

Seme (the coach) added that when they stopped at a petrol station in Cape Town recently and Semenya entered the female toilets, the petrol attendants prevented her from doing so because they were convinced she was a man.

“Caster just laughed and asked if they would like her to take off her pants to show them she was a woman,” said Seme.

These quotes betray absolutely no understanding of the complexities of this sex determination test, so let me try, very briefly (I will do a full and detailed explanation of the issues at a later time) to explain the problem:

Click for more

 

[LancelotSA]

It's far too soon to be celebrating this one.

And if she is proven to be female do we then get to celebrate twice?
I say celebrate away now and let the future hold what it will.

 

[killadoob]

So then should they not just test every woman? Some people may just be too polite to question someone's sexuality.

Dude have a look at her compared to the field man. Her body looks very manly in my opinion.

She looks suspect the others do not. It is not about the face but her body looks so manly it is not even funny.

Would you want to be the head of whatever and find out for years a guy has been winning medals when you could have taken a few moments to test the suspect person.

If concerns are raised about the sex then test them and be sure rather than end up look incompetent.

 

[milomak]

did the aussies start this?

 

[RoloTomasi]

did the aussies start this?

LOL yes they did. Seconds after we beat them in rugby they latched on to poor Semenya.

Anyway, fantastic run by the young Semenya! Well done dude. I listened to her in an interview after the semi-final, she has the voice of Darth Vader but I agree that until the result of the gender test is revealed, there's not point in speculating.

But as sybawoods said, it's not as simple as dropping your pants for a test. She could have a hormone imbalance, or grew up thinking she was female while having male characteristics without having actual male parts. Male or female is not determined by physical attributes alone. Or she could simply just be female!
A top indian athlete failed a gender test at the 2006 Asia Games.

Anyway, to run that sort of time at 18 yrs means she has a wonderful career ahead of her. She completely dominated the race.

 

[stede]

Ok, let's see.
I'm born a female. I was born in a boy's body and grew up like a tomboy.
Played with boys and so on..... I have more male hormones than female.
Where do I belong? I have a talend but can't use it because some people are jealous!
Yes! I could understand it if she had a sex change or hiding anything we don't know about. I hope that they clear this up as soon as possible.
Let's hope she can proof them wrong with the test!

Caster Semenya, a good run. WELL DONE!!!

 

[LancelotSA]

Dude have a look at her compared to the field man. Her body looks very manly in my opinion.

And she won't be the first....

If concerns are raised about the sex then test them and be sure rather than end up look incompetent.

She has had no problem with being tested and I too have no problem with her being tested, I just said it was ridiculous that they were questioning her sex! There are many Eastern European women that look too manly for my taste. As stated if you want to be fair then test all women. Who's to say that some countries don't have better technology and therefore better means of disguising a man as a woman?

I think Heike Dreschler is a man... they should test her! How many people need to complain? One? Ten?

 

[eeZSay]

The 26 year old record is held Jarmila Kratochvílová, who looks like a man....

 

[APoc184]

The 26 year old record is held Jarmila Kratochvílová, who looks like a man....

Now that looks like a man.

 

[BinaryJack]

This is quite interesting really.
I started following it this morning on Sky News.

It is rather sad that the ASA does not even comprehend the issue here and felt it needed to simplify the matter referring to the gender test as the only test required.
Either way, she did great!!!

On a side note, will or should sex testing be more frequent now?

 

[JK8]

How great would it be if she can take another 2+ seconds of her time and smash this 26 year old record.

I thought she would have quite easily... after she was about 20m ahead I think she slowed down a bit.... But 2 seconds in that race is a long way...

 

[chiskmumellow]

2 secs is an enormous gap in 800m running.

I'm really disappointed that instead of celebrating the win, and her fantastic time of her age - all the coverage is on sex tests.

@Kage, gender tests used to be compulsory but was dropped a couple of years ago.

This situation is not as uncommon as you might think. An 800m runner won silver and was subsequently disqualified and ruled ineligible for women's competition in the 2006 Asian Games.

Gender testing is a little more complicated than you might realise. Have a look at http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/gendertest/gendertest.html for more info.

Well done to Caster, just a pity that ASA couldn't back you up before this became a ****storm.

And yes, I believe this issue was first raised by the Australians, which makes me wonder if their rugby team have had their gender tests yet?