By Shawna Healey
Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya has lost her landmark case against athletics governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (I.A.A.F.).
Semenya has been ordered to undergo treatment to medically reduce her natural testosterone levels in order to continue to compete in international women’s races of distances between 400m and a mile.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has commented that “such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the I.A.A.F’s aims of preserving the integrity of female athletics.”
The I.A.A.F. accepts female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels as legally female, yet for competitive purposes, it effectively considers them biologically male. This landmark decision has now given a green light to put in place further rules to limit testosterone levels in certain women’s events that synthesise speed, power and endurance.
Semenya tweeted a picture that read simply: “Sometimes its better to react with no reaction”.
Semenyna had previously claimed that forcing athletes with naturally-occurring high levels of testosterone to take hormone-altering medication ought to be unlawful. She has been under scrutiny since 2009, when she won the first of her three world titles at the World Championships in Berlin.
The two-time Olympic champion has one of various genetic conditions known as differences or disorders of sex development (DSD).
For many, this decision rings with racism and misogyny. As one twitter user put it: “this decision will go down in the annals of history. Not just as a mistake, but a hideous, racist, misogynistic, and colonially managed acquiescence to white fears. Solidarity with Caster Semenya, whose womanhood, blackness & humanity have all been subject to outrageous abuse.”
Following the passing of iconic Stone Roses and Primal Scream Bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mountfield, there have been growing calls for him to be immortalised in a way that reflects both his cultural impact and the deep affection shared between the musician and his home city. GRIT Studios has answered the calls from fans, announcing plans…
Featured image: Evie Peattie Often overshadowed in popular narratives by the heritage houses of Paris or Milan, London’s fashion ecosystem has long traded on creative freedom. As London Fashion Week prepares for its 42nd year, running from the 19 to 23 February, the British capital is poised to reaffirm its reputation not simply as a…
Featured image: Sebastian Garraway Beats vibrate through a polished floor. Bodies move with a swinging grace, surrendering to the rhythm without hesitation. An instinctual sliding jig sways wide-legged jeans cut just above the ankle. Sweat drips from sharp scissor-cut hairstyles onto porous Fred Perry polos. You’ve guessed it: Northern Soul. The late 1960s phenomenon is…
Featured image: Evangeline Causton Local lad Harry Styles will take to the stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live for the city’s first-ever Brit Awards, before returning for his one-night-only show on March 6 to celebrate the arrival of his fourth album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. When cryptic billboards bearing the words “WE BELONG TOGETHER” appeared across Manchester city…
Leave a reply