IAAF new ruling will affect Caster

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Stephen

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As was widely reported, the IAAF has issued new eligibility regulations for female classification, greatly impacting South Africa's Caster Semenya, among others.

In a press release on Thursday, the IAAF has amended their classification for an 'Athlete with Differences of Sexual Development' for five events - to be known as 'restricted events' - from 400m to the mile, including 400m hurdles races, 800m, 1 500m, one mile races and combined events over the same distances.
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https://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/Athletics/iaaf-pass-new-regulations-semenya-forced-to-lower-testosterone-levels-20180426
 
fantastic news, this will discourage people taking advantage of athletes that dont understand how they being used.

next thing will be crippled athletes that think they good enough to run with able bodied athletes.
 
eg2505 said:
fantastic news, this will discourage people taking advantage of athletes that dont understand how they being used.

next thing will be crippled athletes that think they good enough to run with able bodied athletes.
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I see what you did there :D
 
I have no problem with this as long as all athletes competing have their testosterone levels checked, not just those who are suspected of having high testosterone and not just females. They must introduce the same restriction for men (with a higher threshold, obviously), to avoid the situation where a man with an unusually high natural testosterone level has a competitive advantage - and make sure they are no longer allowed to compete without bringing their levels down. Also they must bring in standards regarding muscle mass, height, genetics etc, to weed out all those people with unusual natural advantages over the competition.
 
C4Cat said:
I have no problem with this as long as all athletes competing have their testosterone levels checked, not just those who are suspected of having high testosterone and not just females. They must introduce the same restriction for men (with a higher threshold, obviously), to avoid the situation where a man with an unusually high natural testosterone level has a competitive advantage - and make sure they are no longer allowed to compete without bringing their levels down. Also they must bring in standards regarding muscle mass, height, genetics etc, to weed out all those people with unusual natural advantages over the competition.
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nothing wrong with this, all that separate athletes will then be Talent, as it should be,
I mean in Nascar, what seperates all the cars?

the talent of the drivers, same thing here,
if proper rules were in place that enforced, then no problem should present itself.
 
The elephant in the room is gigantic here. how much do we really know about Caster? I'm not convinced that Caster should be competing vs females at all. Yes, it's her livelihood but outside all the political correctness, it's time to call a spade a spade.
 
Wall said:
Utter and complete ****ing bull**** :mad:
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Not at all.

There is a reason these races are split by gender - massive differences in outcome.

The current situation is equivalent to doing mixed races and then being surprised that the males always win & the women being pis.sed that they can't compete.

Still...forcing levels down with meds seems like a rather crass solution.
 
HavocXphere said:
Still...forcing levels down with meds seems like a rather crass solution.
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Than banning her from running with real females? Maybe they can add a half&half class based on your levels of testosterone. Quite a few males could make that class.
 
Lord Farquart said:
Than banning her from running with real females?
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Frankly both seem decidedly unpalatable. There don't seem to be any clean solutions here.

I get why the IAAF put a drastic & crass stop to this though. It's a very ugly solution & they must have known this is gonna be an absolute PR shtshow but they did it anyway: It was kinda putting the sport in jeopardy. Next thing you'll have sport scouts looking for specifically for people that blur the lines and then we can scrap women's events entirely.

Lord Farquart said:
Quite a few males could make that class.
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You mean like the majority of this forum?

WaxLyrical said:
If she's producing testosterone like a man, she should run with the men, otherwise she's just a female on steroids.
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Bingo.
 
Why are they only applying this rule to specific events, specifically events Caster Semenya competes in?
 
C4Cat said:
Why are they only applying this rule to specific events, specifically events Caster Semenya competes in?
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I don't get this either. If it was because endurance then they'd be extending the ruling to 5000 and even higher
 
R13... said:
I don't get this either. If it was because endurance then they'd be extending the ruling to 5000 and even higher
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Yep, and testosterone must have an effect all athletics, not just running, and not just women. A man with unusually elevated testosterone levels would also have an advantage. And what about other unusual natural advantages an athlete might have as well? Anyway it does appear that this rule is aimed specifically at removing Semenya, or it would be applied more broadly and fairly, imo
 
C4Cat said:
Why are they only applying this rule to specific events, specifically events Caster Semenya competes in?
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I suspect this is in part due to pressure from the other athletes competing in the same events, as well as their sponsors, threatening to withdraw.

What I do find curious is that Caster's sponsors are not using her image as regularly for marketing as opposed to let say Usain Bolt. I honestly only remember the You/Huisgenoot dressing her up as a 80's tannie.
 
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