OozmaKappa wrote:
That is literally a man. Allowing men to compete with women means the end of womens sports.
Also, why are they always from Namibia?
LRC response. Your post is the type of post we don't really want. She is not a man. We think the proper definition is intersex. While we don't know the particulars of her situation, it's like she has no penis, no uterus but does have internal testes. That seems pretty much the definition of intersex - external genitalia that is female, internal that is male. Men generally have penises.
It's usual for sports to favour specific body types. Jockeys are small, Basketball players are tall.
It's also usual for competitors to have varying individual physical traits which might or might not offer advantage. In the Tokyo Women's Olympic Marathon, we saw a 4'11" runner next to a 6' runner, so height wasn't a factor. Bolt was about 6'5" and a head above most in the lanes around him - this did seem to be a big part of what made him dominant. Less obvious are genetic factors, such as those determining trainable Fast-Twitch/Slow-Twitch composition.
In Junior sports, we divide into age categories. 8 year olds aren't as physically developed at 16 year olds. Sports are also divided on gender - men develop more musculature than women. Muscles = strength. Men run faster, jump higher, throw farther, and so on. At high levels of Sport, there's roughly a 10% difference between the best men and best women.
If Bruce Jenner had identified as female sooner, and been permitted to compete in Women's sports, would that have been fair? Of course not. Because when a competitor has unique hormonal, and thus muscular, differences providing significant competitive advantage, the playing field isn't level.
Why is that different for Intersex/Transgender competitors? We ban women who take drugs to increase testosterone, because that is unfair advantage. But if a woman naturally produces high testosterone, it's nonetheless an advantage.
The issue isn't what dangly bits you have or don't.
IAAF recognised this - hence new requirements for Testosterone suppression in some Women's events. This is meant to turn overwhelming advantage into moderate advantage. Moderate Advantage as maximum permitted testosterone levels for those taking suppression treatment is still well above that of most women and above levels which would trigger an adverse finding.
Those complaining are missing the point. Sport isn't just about competition - it's about fair competition.