Caster Semenya Cleared to Return to Women's Track and Field

Caster Semenya may return to international women's competition immediately, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced. The 19-year-old South African middle-distance champion has been sidelined for 11 months during complex gender verification testing following her 800-meter victory at the World championships last August.

The Guardian:

"I am thrilled to enter the global athletics arena once again, and look forward to competing with all the disputes behind me," [Semenya] said.The International Association of Athletics Federations confirmed that Semenya, who won gold in the 800m at the World Championships in Berlin last summer, will be eligible to compete against other female athletes. She could target the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October as her first opportunity to win another major senior medal."The process initiated in 2009 in the case of Caster Semenya has now been completed," the IAAF said. "The IAAF accepts the conclusion of a panel of medical experts that she can compete with immediate effect. Please note that the medical details of the case remain confidential and the IAAF will make no further comment on the matter.

There has been rampant speculation as to what the "process" might have entailed. South Africa's Sport24 quotes a high-ranking coach who says Athletics South Africa (ASA) confirmed that Semenya has undergone hormonal treatment.

Testing results were leaked last summer that revealed Semenya is intersexed with internal testes and no uterus or ovaries. Several South African sports officials, who were dismissed, were aware of Semenya's medical condition but did not tell her. Semenya was allowed to keep her gold medal.

Best of luck to Caster. Here's looking to another gold medal.

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Comments

[KP]

Athletics has traditionally segregated competitions based on the idea that biological sex makes a significant difference in terms of performance. There is SOME truth to that in SOME contexts, but modern science has made it clear that not everyone fits neatly into traditional binary sex categories.
The existence of people like Caster Semenya (who would be classified as intersexed, if the leaked reports are true), make it clear that we need to create an alternative system of athletic competitions in which anyone who meets a given minimum standard of performance can compete in a sport without regard to sex or gender. For instance, both women and men compete in some "Iron Man" competitions, and there is no "male winner" or "female winner"; there is just a winner.

[Liberator Émigré Éire]

Glad to see the disgusting treatment Semenya was subjected to hasn't destroyed her dreams.

Good luck to her.

[Isis]

Good for her!

[African Women]

Way to go, Caster. The gender lines were never more blurred than in this case.