Victor/Victoria wrote:
Testosterone enhancing or not enhancing performance in females is just a side argument. The issue is what defines a female in relation to who can participate in women's athletics. Right now, it seems the only persons not eligible for women's sports is a genetic male who identifies as a male. All others are apparently eligible, at least that seems where we are headed.
If Semenya were raised a male from birth and identified as male as an adult, would she be inelgible to compete with women? Her anatomy would be exactly the same no matter how she was raised and/or identified.
Well yes, testosterone is just one avenue of the argument for or against Semenya partaking in women's sport, but one that is being repeated in this thread.
And more importantly it is the one that the IAAF tried to use to exclude Semenya from the sport.
You raise an interesting point. I do not know the answer to that question for certain and I'm not sure anyone does. If she wanted to compete as a male there is nothing stopping her, even now after competing as a female. Gender category switching has been seen before and she wouldn't be required to do anything other than tick a different box.
I think technically if Caster grew up as a man and identified as a male, then decided she wanted to identify as a female and change genders, she would be subject to the gender switching rules which are different. She would be required to undergo hormone therapy to effectively reduce her T levels and raise oestrogen; the same therapy she no longer has to undergo. Ironically.
It is a very good point and highlights the flaws with the system the CAS has effectively ruled for.
I do think however that if there was an intersex athlete raised as a male with mostly male external genitalia but female internal sex organs, CAS might have a harder time accepting this athlete is actually a female.
Maybe the onus should be on the athlete to prove they should compete in the category they want to? Could be unfair on the individual but potentially fairer on everyone else? At least there would be some set rules rather than a hazy ad hoc system.
I also question how good hormone replacement therapy is at bringing a fully biological male that wants to have gender reassignement to compete as a female into line with the other girls.
It seems to me that biologically there is more at work that sets men apart from women than hormones such as testosterone. An example would be the apparent greater endurance of males and lactic tolerance. I am no expert on this matter however.