Controversial runner Caster Semenya has hit the headlines again after backing fellow DSD athlete Imane Khelif’s boxing participation.
Semenya was suspended from completion in 2019 after winning gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio for failing to accept treatment for the condition. However, Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting flew under the radar despite the IBA [formerly AIBA] warning the IOC about the pair of pugilists in 2023.
Khelif and Yu-Ting reportedly tested positive for XY chromosomes, which are only present in male athletes. Neither opposed their suspension, as the IBA threw both out of the 2023 World Championships.
As the IOC has no test in place and only goes from what gender an athlete has written in a passport without complete sex testing suspected DSD carriers, Khelif was able to win gold with Yu-Ting attempting to follow on Saturday.
As a storm erupted surrounding Khelif, Semenya accused some detractors of discrimination.
“Imane is a great boxer and people always criticize when someone is doing well, people always talk then,” Semenya told SportsBoom.com. “When she wasn’t winning, then everyone was quiet. However, the IOC’s policy and constitution should not contradict each other.
“Sport is for all people. The constitution says no to discrimination. But the minute they allowed women to be disgraced, it confuses us. If sport is for all, then why does the big governing body allow this sort of thing to happen? They should stand their ground and lead by example. It’s about quality leadership that safeguards, protects, and respects women.”
Discussing her own make-up, which includes enough elevated testosterone to give an obvious advantage and internal sperm that is reported to have been used to ‘father’ two children with her wife, Semenya is adamant not that those male features should matter if he has female genitalia.
“For me, I believe if you are a woman, you are a woman,” Semenya told the BBC. “I have realized I want to live my life and fight for what I think, and I believe in myself. I don’t care about the medical terms or what they tell me, being born without a uterus or internal testicles. Those don’t make me less of a woman. I am a woman and have a vagina just like any other woman.”
Semenya added, “I am not going to be ashamed because I am different. The importance of women’s sports is not being taken seriously. We need to take charge of our own bodies. Decide what is right for us. Not another gender deciding what we should look like. I am not going to be somebody I am not.”
Plenty would disagree due to the body density issues and strength and endurance advantages. However, it’s up to the IOC to make those decisions that would have saved Khelif and Yu-Ting from a mass of bad publicity and social media stigma.
Los Angeles 2028 will be the talking point once the dust settles on Paris 2024, giving the IOC some time to put together a test for those athletes suspected of holding an unfair advantage due to their place on the sex spectrum.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
