By Selwyn Duke
When then-18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya was dusting female competition in races and arousing suspicion about “her” sexual status almost a generation ago, I made a prediction:
Medical tests would determine that Semenya had internal testes.
Sure enough, this was the case, examination results showed upon coming to light. Furthermore, Semenya was found to have an XY (male) genotype and also no womb or ovaries.
You wouldn’t know it, though, from recent years’ reporting, with outlets merely describing the runner as having “naturally elevated levels of testosterone.” Well, yes, hermaphroditism is not normal — but it is “natural.”
Now there’s a similar controversy surrounding Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, especially after one of the fighter’s opponents, Italian Angela Carini, quit in her bout against Khelif, exclaiming “This is unjust!” Only, now, defenders of willful blindness have a new strategy: the race card. As the Associated Press put it yesterday: “For female athletes of color, scrutiny around gender rules and identity is part of a long trend.” Perhaps — so is media misdirection.
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