Asbel Kiprop and Rashid Ramzi have to be way up there. They put a stain on the sport that made me question why I even watch professional and Olympic track.
Semenya, who is not a female, destroyed an entire event for 1/2 a decade. I don't blame him. I blame the governing bodies that allowed a person with male testes to compete as a woman. What's crazy is there are women in the sport right now advocating for allowing males to compete as women.
Yes, she has XY chromosomes and undescended testes. But she is also born with female external genitalia and was assigned female at birth This said, WA eligibility criteria for DSD athletes with hyperandogynism to enter in the female category are fair, and I support the fact that Caster Semenya is not allowed to compete in the female category if not reducing her testosterone level to the defined threshold.
Biology is somehow a bit more complex than your binary thought structure. Shall I call you a woman if you are an XX male (you might be undiagnosed and not knowing it)? Should you be allowed to compete in the female category (as genetically XX)? My answer is twice no.
XX male syndrome, also known as de la Chapelle syndrome, is a rare intersex condition in which an individual with a 46,XX karyotype develops a male phenotype. Synonyms for XX male syndrome include 46,XX testicular difference...
Lot of good answers from history but if we are talking 1) today 2) distance running and 3) not just weird homophobic nutjobs, the answer is a resounding….
I sense a lot of recency bias, so I'll add Ben Johnson to the list. That guy got a lot of hate.
lots of recency bias for sure.
though not deserved, at the time, a lot of people in the US really disliked Zola Budd. but that's too long ago for most folks to remember... btw, ultimately folks just felt sorry for rosie ruiz... because it was so clear she was out of her element.
