Caster Semenya.

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey well Caster Semenya jogs to the final of the IAAF champs.
I say if "she" can have kids one day, then she authetic.
But if she dont then my beleif its suspicious...

Only time will tell 

[Dead Keen]

So, is having kids the test of being a woman?

[jodie]

That's not very fair Matti.  she's just trying to live her life, do her thing.  I feel really sorry for her.
There are so many out there that are advantaged by taking drugs intentionally.  we should call them out but not someone who has no control over it. 
i'm not sure she'll be having kiddies any time soon.
Bek met her in Lausanne actually - she liked her
x

[rebekahkeat]

Thanks Jode totally agree and before anyone jumps on here and opens their mouth, they need to watch the documentary on her I saw!
It tells a story of a girl born with very high natural testosterone levels obviously a huge advantage!BUT definitely not her fault I support her 100% and she has all female reproductive organs and NO male ones never did so she can have kids!;)

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey its definetly an un-fortunate situation.
But to take emotions out of it.

In sport there has been just a few cases of such in the past.
And some more cases might occasionaly arise in the future.

In my mind, anybody in this circumtance could swiftly quiet many critics and cynics.
By eventually having a kid.
As it seems much more "real world" than scientific-theory or personal-bias...

[jodie]

maybe she doesn't want kids matti ...
i hope u r joking

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey jodi yes I just imagined a transparent and smart-ass idea!
As I was surfing youtube for a first-time in a long while...
And though I would share it with you-all and solicitate thoughts on this un-orthodox predicament
It-is-what-it-is.

[jodie]

just watch it x

[QR]

she is unlucky in a way.. her competition is just way too weak and looks for excuses.. her timing in Berlin (1:55:45) does not even rank her in the top 10 all-time 800m ran by a woman..

i would rather question the timings in the 80's but for other reasons..

[doc]

people
lets be clear , about  attacking matty when he makes a valid point .
this attitude is why we got the drug problem .
whats acceptable ?
its like  oh i was sick  so i can take epo  for blood rebuillding and human growth hormone
to help the muscle distrophy .
now i know cause i know what was offered me in rehab from testical cancer
and yes , i got the one ball to prove it .
people
sport is degraded by the well we let this thru  and thast u get 2 yrs and for this you can get that
oh this is not too bad , so no ban there
we have a level for epo ,
which  some people do their best to get close to with training  , with altitude
and others by other means    fact  kiddies
but over that and its deemed to high .
same here yes
some will be banned from sport , which is sad personally but for the  sport as a whole 
it can help ,
just as life time bans  and confiscation  of finances for  the positives testers .

dick pound and crew running around keep ing people up at night ,
mean while the cheats have , a free hand .
its a joke .
so lets not pick on matt as he makes a very valid point .
i can tell you 
i am old enuff to be at a race of the 800m world champ and let me tell you that will never go
nothin female about her or doped to eye balls
same with  the east german 400 m girl record holder  m . koch    iwas in the stands when she broke the record in canberra way back when
and let me tell you she shut it down with 50 m to go .
its the slippery slope  as its all the same
where do youz draw the line  of whats fair for the majority .
over the  unique indiviidual .
nothin wrong with some different opinions in a debATE
nobody from what i read is being personal .

[DamienC]

I've watched her run for a long time, and I never thought I would ever see her racing on the world stage.  Don't get me wrong, she has always been talented, but she was always mentally not quite up to her talent.  I've watched her literally slow to a jog with 150m to go in an 800 because she was challenged on her outside by a girl who blew about 40m later.

Semenya is big, strong and incredibly powerful, but no more so that Maria Mutola, and possibly is actually weaker than Mutola was at her prime.  And let's not forget that Saminova has always had one of the fastest finishes in world 800m running.  Semenya doesn't have a big sprint (in 800 terms), and so has to lift the pace from 250 to 300 out off a slow start, or push the pace early, to take the sting out of the sprinters.  All Saminova had to do was sit on Semenya and wait for the last 80m, a tactic she has used often before against other strong front runners.

Let's not forget that Semenya has undergone more "gender verification testing", in public, than any other athlete in history.  It is not like drug testing, which can be fooled if you are informed and rich enough.  And she has not failed one of those tests.  If she had, she would have just "disappeared" from athletics permanently.

Let me ask a question this way: Chrissie is naturally very strong, aerobically a super human compared to many of her contempararies.  Should she be prevented from competing because of her natural make-up?  Because that is what we're asking of Semenya.

[NiLiDy]

Well put Sir! 

[jodie]

I think that simply the line is drawn when advantage is gained from extrogenous substances entering the body.  That's where we draw the line.
If we ban Semenya on the basis of a gender test then surely we would have to test many of the female athletes out there.  

Of course there is a spectrum of gender it is pretty obvious, looking at high level women's sport, that there is a higher proportion of masculine body types.  Are we going to go around testing any androgenous looking girls on the basis they are childless and look like a 'man'?    I'd be pretty hurt if that was suggested about me.  
Can't we just call it genetics /talent and understand this is not an artificial drug problem but a natural, genetic advantage much like a naturally high haemotocrit or big lungs?

Or we could pass all great female accolades off as occuring because 'she is part man'  - and yes I have heard that excuse from girls that have just as much ability as the achiever.  

Each of us should work with what we have.  Semenya was weak in the head in the last 50m and she was heavy for her - she got beaten.  These lucky/unlucky girls are not unbeatable we each work with what we have.

I'm so very much against drugs but once we start segregating by natural advantage where we going to go with it?  

[doc]

if her testeserone levels  is 4 times or 400 % higher than a normal female
then


                                         YES

[DamienC]

Her testosterone levels are high for a woman, but fall within the range deemed "normal" for a female athlete.  Her levels are actually almost 10 times lower than the average for a male athlete.  She has been drug tested often, going back to when she compete at the 2008 Junior Worlds and Commonwealth Youth Champs, and has never failed a urine test for high testosterone levels.