Unisex Dilemma At The Rio Olympics

I just read a fascinating article in Sports Illustrated magazine (by Alexander Wolf) that impacts the Olympic Games to show that ever there, political correctness is active. One event that will be controversial happens next week when a South African unisex woman named Caster Semenya is the overwhelming favorite to win the 800 meter track and field event. Problem is, she was born with both female and male sexual characteristics, has super high testosterone that makes her run "like a man", and has the appearance and features of a man. Many athletes who compete against her have complained about the unfairness of allowing her to compete as a woman.

Caster is 5'10" and weighs 161 pounds, with muscular arms, broad shoulders and narrow hips. Her voice is a baritone and she exhibits what non pc types call butch behavior. Her race in Rio will trigger an emotional debate on gender and sports  between those who favor traditional views of male and female and the new age pc mindset that a person can declare whatever sex desired as the real one.

Many of the athletes who have to compete against Caster, medical experts and sports journalists say that Caster has an intersex condition, in which a person has anatomical sex characteristics of both males and females. That causes her to be hyperandrogenous. Her body produces much higher levels of testosterone than most other females. And that in turn builds greater muscle mass and allows her to run faster.  So she is competing as an "almost man" against women.

Is that fair? We separate men and women into categories because we want women to be able to win some competitions. After all, if the pc crowd had its way and all competitors, male and female were lumped together in the same event, few women would ever win in sports that require physical strength as a prerequisite. In April 2011 the IAAF (it runs international track eligibility) introduced what it called "eligibility rules for females with hyperandrogenism." These say that, "A female with hyperandrogenism who is recognized 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." The normal testosterone range for females is .5 nmol/L to 3 nmol/L. For men, the range is approximately 10 to 30. That's a big difference but the Olympic Committee in Rio is ignoring that standard.

The International athletic ruling boards are in a quandary about what to do about her eligibility. She has a huge advantage and most of the other female athletes are openly unhappy about it. They want her banned or to be forced to take medication to suppress her male testosterone( several years ago she did and ran poorly as a result and stopped the suppression as a result). The politically correct world today that cheers transgender rights has forced them to back down and she will compete as a heavily favored as a unisex athlete.  It should make for a very interesting race.