Semenya withdraws from race amidst reports she's hermaphrodite

[DSM4Life]

Caster Semenya, the 18-year old at the center of one of the biggest gender scandals in sports history, withdrew from a weekend race in South Africa amidst unconfirmed reports that her gender tests have revealed that she has both male and female sexual organs.

She was scheduled to compete in the 4,000 meters at the national cross country championships in Pretoria. Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, says his runner "isn't feeling well".

Yesterday, unsubstantiated reports from Australia and England said that Semenya's tests showed that she has no womb or ovaries and produces testosterone levels three times higher than a normal woman. The IAAF thinly denies the reports. (The organization's spokesman says he hasn't "seen" the results, which doesn't mean he hasn't "heard" the results. Nor has the IAAF come out and said that the reports are false.)

The Today Show aired a report on the Semenya situation this morning:

It's another chapter in an unfortunate story. It's easy to get caught up in the sensationalized aspects of Semenya's tale, but let's not forget that she's still just a teenager who is now the centerpiece of an embarrassing worldwide scandal. No matter how things progressed to this point (and we'll get to that later), Semenya is a victim in this story.

But let's operate under assumption that the tests were accurate and that Semenya is a hermaphrodite. If so, then there are three main questions that will need to be answered soon:

1) Will Semenya be stripped of her gold medal?

Probably. It's hard to imagine that the IAAF would allow Semenya to keep the gold after what these tests reveal. The rules explicitly state that a "gender verification" situation has to be approved and overseen by medical authorities. Semenya didn't do this. Fair or not, a rule is a rule.

2) Will Semenya ever be allowed to run again?

Reading the IAAF rules, it would appear that Semenya would be allowed to run if her condition was treated. Whether or not she would want to is anyone's guess. But there's also a chance she could be banned from running based on the answer to the next question.

3) Who knew about this and when did they know?

We haven't gotten this far down the road yet, but the next logical step in the progression of this sordid affair is whether there was a coverup involved. Regardless of whether the intentions of Semenya and her handlers were nefarious, they had to know of her ambiguous gender. Not having ovaries isn't something that goes unnoticed. If they did, then at what point did this turn from an unfortunate medical situation into outright deception?

If Semenya was an innocent running without knowledge of her condition, then there's not much the IAAF could do other than strip her medal and advise her on how to regain eligibility. But if it can be determined that she knew she was running illegally (which would be tough to prove, but I'm starting to get the feeling that people knew -- how else would other coaches have known to order gender tests?) then there could be heavy sanctions down the road.

These questions will be discussed in the coming weeks and will be the center of attention when the IAAF officially releases its findings in November. If you thought the tale of Caster Semenya was strange before, it's just getting started.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/bei...urn=oly,188930

[ranging1]

i have a better question if shes a hermaphrodite does she compete in the male or female division?

poor girl/guy feel sorry for her

[amcon]

male... no ovries, no female parts...

[MuscleScience]

Wow what a bunch of heartless dicks the media is.

[thegodfather]

Wow what a bunch of heartless dicks the media is.

Agreed. I think that if she has both reproductive organs, then perhaps she should be allowed to compete in either male or female division. Gender is a very hard thing to determine, even physically. It is a physical and mental state, not such a clear cut line. It's sort of like trying to determine what defines "life."

[energizer bunny]

i feel sorry for her also.....if its true and she didnt know then that is awful......she was brought up as a girl so in her head she is a girl regardless.....

[stpete]

I don't see how she/he's a victim here. She/he knew she/he had both body parts. She chose not to be honest about it. And she/he got bad advice from someone or multiple people. The powers that be should of been told of her/his condition. I understand that it must've been extremely hard to even think about telling anyone of this, but you have to think down the road. No one in her/his circle did, and neither did he/she. Unless i'm missing something, they chose to lie and now she/he is being drug through the dirt. Not nice, but that's the road she/he went down.

[chicmagnet]

She has 3 times as much test as a woman, you do the math.

[jfalco]

I don't see how she/he's a victim here. She/he knew she/he had both body parts. She chose not to be honest about it. And she/he got bad advice from someone or multiple people. The powers that be should of been told of her/his condition. I understand that it must've been extremely hard to even think about telling anyone of this, but you have to think down the road. No one in her/his circle did, and neither did he/she. Unless i'm missing something, they chose to lie and now she/he is being drug through the dirt. Not nice, but that's the road she/he went down.

You're definitely missing a lot. First of all, it is unclear if she knew anything about her condition. But this big thing that you are missing is that she is just a kid, who is probably very scared and confused. She will never lead a normal life. The entire world has been made aware of her somewhat embarassing medical condition. You are a heartless prick if you don't feel bad for her. There is no "victim" if not her. In the great scheme of things the races don't matter, but this child has had her life turned upside down.

[riironman]

if the coaches really knew... than why didnt they try to fight the gender test and not try to hide it? i think all the parties involved thought she or he was a woman. a manly one... but still a woman.

[ni4ni]

You're definitely missing a lot. First of all, it is unclear if she knew anything about her condition.

At 17, you don't know about your organs whether internal/external?? plz explain that.
As MS stated the media = to dicksheads however I can't believe NO ONE (docs/parents/HER)knew of this condition for 17yrs!!

[jfalco]

At 17, you don't know about your organs whether internal/external?? plz explain that.
As MS stated the media = to dicksheads however I can't believe NO ONE (docs/parents/HER)knew of this condition for 17yrs!!

There has been no report about the appearance of her organs. Often hermaphrodites do not have any functional sex organs and I would be willing to bet that she has the outward appearance of being female. It is perfectly reasonable that this would have gone unnoticed.

[Mooseman33]

You're definitely missing a lot. First of all, it is unclear if she knew anything about her condition. But this big thing that you are missing is that she is just a kid, who is probably very scared and confused. She will never lead a normal life. The entire world has been made aware of her somewhat embarassing medical condition. You are a heartless prick if you don't feel bad for her. There is no "victim" if not her. In the great scheme of things the races don't matter, but this child has had her life turned upside down.

are u kidding me..go cry to someone else.
i feel bad for all the other female athletes "real victims" this he/she beat by breaking the rules, regardless if it was intentional or not.
she has the test of man, her testies are inside, her test levels are against the rules for a female to compete with, which makes her a cheater.

feel sorry for this thing, hell no..

[Friend]

This scares me

[*El Diablo*]

She has 3 times as much test as a woman, you do the math.

Doesnt matter, she can have 100 times the test of a man, She cannot use it.

[DSM4Life]

If we dated would she be my girlfriend or my boyfriend ?

[*El Diablo*]

If we dated would she be my girlfriend or my boyfriend ?

Since when does it matter for you? lol