NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 800 meters, blasted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over a new policy to ensure fairness for women competing at the highest level of sport.
Semenya, who has DSD, has testosterone levels higher than a typical female ranger and has launched legal challenges to compete in the women’s category. Semenya said she expected more from IOC president Kirsty Coventry.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Caster Semenya (RSA) runs during a heat of the women’s 5000m during the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22 at Hayward Field on July 20, 2022. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
“Personally, for her as a leader, she’s an African, I’m sure she understands how, you know, we as Africans come from, like a global south, you know, you can’t control genetics,” Semenya said on Thursday. “For me personally, for her being a woman who comes from Africa, knowing how, you know, African women or women in the global south are affected by that.”
The IOC said it would use genetic tests to verify the biological sex of competitors in women’s events. The IOC said eligibility for events in the women’s category is “now limited to biological females, determined on the basis of a one-time SRY gene screening.”
“Evidence-based and expert-informed, the policy — applicable for the LA28 Olympic Games and beyond — protects the fairness, safety and integrity of the women’s category,” according to the organization.
“Of course, if you say the science, because we’re talking about science here, if the science is clear, show us who decided and don’t put it as a lie because it’s a lie and we know because we’ve seen it, so if we were to respond or confront Kirsty, that’s how we’re going to respond and we’re going to respond strongly as we are because it affects women,” Semenya said.
AMERICAN OLYMPIAN WHO IDENTIFIES AS TRANSGENDER, NON-INTERIOR, SLAMS IOC’S NEW POLICY TO PROTECT WOMEN’S SPORTS
Caster Semenya (RSA) wins the women’s 800m in an African record time of 1:54.25 during the Meeting de Paris in an IAAF Diamond League event at Stade Charlety on June 30, 2018. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Semenya won Olympic gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games but is banned from certain international events such as the Olympics and World Championships as she refused to follow the rules and take medication to reduce her hormone levels.
“For me personally, I would say the voice is not being heard because you take it as a tick box, you tick a box so you can go clarify or say yes, we’ve consulted,” she said. “For me, it’s you who ticks.”
The IOC said it came to the decision to implement the policy after consulting a panel of experts with the aim of giving women equal opportunities in sport.
“The policy was developed on the basis that it is universally accepted that the provision of a women’s category is necessary to give both men and women equal access to elite sport,” the IOC said in a statement.
“It was guided by the IOC’s modern goals of equality (equal opportunities for female athletes in finals, podiums and championships); strengthening the Olympic value (with both women’s and men’s finals in all sports); and visibility and inspiration (celebrating female athletes on the Olympic podium and girls to inspire and represent women worldwide”).
Coventry suggested the continued activation of men in women’s sports is “not certain” in the announcement.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya competes in the women’s 3000m final during the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Athletics Grand Prix at the Greenpoint Athletics Stadium in Cape Town on March 23, 2022. (RODGER BOSCH/AFP via Getty Images)
“As a former athlete, I believe passionately in the rights of all Olympians to participate in fair competition. The policy we have announced is based on science and has been guided by medical experts. At the Olympic Games, even the smallest of margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” she said.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
“So it’s quite clear that it wouldn’t be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. Additionally, in some sports it simply wouldn’t be safe.”
