7 months later, Caster Semenya’s sex is still in question

The case of Caster Semenya has gone from strange, to gross, to medical oddity, and now just back to plain strange. Last August, Semenya of South Africa won the women’s 800 meters at the world championships in Berlin. But after, there was question as to whether she was a man or woman. And 7 months later, the investigation is still going. What could be solved with a simple “cup check” has now taken more than a half year

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said ”negotiations and discussions” were ongoing, but refused to comment further.

Semenya’s dramatic improvement in times and muscular build led the IAAF to order gender tests. The IAAF is still reviewing the results to determine Semenya’s eligibility to compete.

If it’s Semenya’s feelings they are worried about hurting, wouldn’t taking this long to decide if she is indeed, male or female, do the same amount of damage? Can you imagine the uncomfortable conversations that’s taken place?

Semenya: Any updates?
IAAF: Uh yea, we’re still trying to figure out if you’re a man or woman. Taking longer than we expected

Strange that something so apparent to the naked eye (no pun intended) would take medical experts more than 7 months to decide. And please, spare me the argument about testosterone levels (for the record, she had 3x the level of a normal woman). If you have ambiguous genitalia, you shouldn’t be competing. Case closed.

IAAF: Negotiations Ongoing in Caster Case {NY Times}

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