Caster Semenay Wins SA Title in 2:02.10

Alf Shrubb wrote:

German, English, American Guy wrote:

While we are talkeing about what digusts us here:

I am disgusted that the IAAF bows to poltical pressure from a national organisation with - at best - a questionable stake in the whole thing. It shoudl be in all (!) athletes' best interest to not let her in on interntaional competition.

Oh, come on - I understand ‘she’ did at least change jock-straps in between winning the 800 and the 1500 an hour later.

Yeah, but could you carry her jockstrap? My guess is no.

The IAAF decided to let her compete, so she can. She grew up as a female, and is the last one we should blame. She probably trains as much as anyone else she competes against, and in the end, the one with the best combination of training, genes and luck will win - as in any other event.

Part of her previous dominance was also the relative weakness of the opposition, she is quite a bit off the WR pace.

The London Olympic organizers, however, have created a huge potential risk by making it possible to contend both the 800m and the 1500m in 2012 - that's the only reason we see Caster run 1500 now. It will now be one of the major stories in the buildup to the games, and if Caster does run and win both (I don't think it is likely), it will be all over the tabloids, not least because one of the few widely recognized home favorites is herself competing in the 800m. We can't and we shouldn't take the right to compete away from her now, but they should have thought this through when they made the schedule.

What are you talking about. She did not train as much and as long as any of the other world class women. Look it up. I agree that she is not to blame. But they are you using her abnormalities, to make money against others who don,t stand a chance.Shame on her handlers and shame on the IAAF.

Querfeldein wrote:

The IAAF decided to let her compete, so she can. She grew up as a female, and is the last one we should blame. She probably trains as much as anyone else she competes against, and in the end, the one with the best combination of training, genes and luck will win - as in any other event.

In fairness, the whole 'Our little girl' nonsense started once the furore was well underway.

Prior to that, the headteacher from the school that Semenya attended admitted that he thought that she was a bloke and that she was the only 'girl' in the school to not wear the girl uniform but dress like a guy.

here is some audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-bqET22vEU

IAAF to introduce eligibility rules for females with hyperandrogenism

New IAAF LOGO (IAAF.org)

Daegu, Korea - The IAAF today became the first international sports federation to approve the adoption of new rules and regulations governing the eligibility of females with hyperandrogenism* to compete in women’s competition.

The IAAF Council’s decision is the culmination of an 18 month-long review by an IAAF expert working group who have studied issues relating to the participation of female athletes with hyperandrogenism in athletics. This group has worked in close co-ordination with the IOC Medical Commission throughout this period and also participated in a series of international expert meetings held on the subject in 2010.

The new rules and regulations, which will be published and come into force for all International Competitions on 1 May 2011, provide for the following key principles:

- Competition in athletics will continue to be divided into men’s and women’s competition recognising that there is a difference in sporting performance between elite men and women, that is predominantly due to higher levels of androgenic hormones in men;

- A female with hyperandrogenism who is recognised as a female in law shall be eligible to compete in women’s competition in athletics provided that she has androgen levels below the male range (measured by reference to testosterone levels in serum) or, if she has androgen levels within the male range she also has an androgen resistance which means that she derives no competitive advantage from such levels;

- A pool of international medical experts has been appointed by the IAAF to review cases referred to it under the regulations as an independent expert medical panel and to make recommendations to the IAAF in such cases to decide on the eligibility of female athletes with hyperandrogenism;

- A 3-level medical process under the regulations shall ensure that all potentially relevant data is made available to the expert medical panel for the purposes of evaluating an athlete’s eligibility. This medical process may include, where necessary, the expert medical panel referring an athlete with potential hyperandrogenism for full examination and diagnosis in accordance with best medical practice at one of the 6 IAAF-approved specialist reference centres around the world;

- The medical process under the regulations shall be conducted in strict confidentiality and all cases shall be referred to the expert medical panel on an anonymous basis;

- A female athlete who declines, fails or refuses to comply with the eligibility determination process under the regulations shall not be eligible to compete in women’s competition.

The IAAF Council has further today modified its existing regulations concerning the participation in women’s competition of athletes who have undergone male to female sex reassignment. These regulations shall also be published on 1 May 2011.