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The ignorance aimed at Caster Semenya flies in the face of the Olympic spirit
Source: The Guardian
The ignorance aimed at Caster Semenya flies in the face of the Olympic spirit
In pressing their case on hyperandrogenic athletes the IAAF have
ensured hostile scrutiny will always fall on women who defy norms
imposed by the powerful
Tuesday 23 August 2016 14.04 BST
Katrina Karkazis
The image that will stay with me long after the last competitor leaves Rio this week is a decidedly un-Olympic one. Caster Semenya, the women’s 800m gold medallist, extends her arms to fellow competitors Melissa Bishop of Canada and Lynsey Sharp of Great Britain. Sharp, who came in sixth, holds a tearful Bishop, who took fourth, in a tight embrace. Rather than respond to Semenya they remain in their embrace ignoring her. The photo was a sad endnote to one of the most vitriolic media and social media uproars I can recall, one in which the athletes were the casualties. And the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did nothing to quell it.
In the month leading up the to the race, a cacophonous and spurious alarm sounded unfairly on Semenya’s right to compete. She endured relentless hostility and a deluge of cruel harassment from both the traditional and online media, something she has been withstanding for the seven years since the IAAF confirmed it was investigating her. It was reported she was even provided with a security team in Rio due to concerns the hostility might turn violent.
Semenya’s athleticism was attributed to a single molecule – testosterone – as though it alone earned her the gold, undermining at once her skill, preparation and achievement. South Africa as a nation has pushed back with #handsoffcaster, coming to the defence of one of the world’s most scrutinised athletes despite her having done nothing wrong and competing with the support of the court of arbitration for sport (Cas).
It didn’t have to be this way. Instead of quashing the media storm, the IAAF aggravated it, continuing to fail in its articulation and management of the issue. On the eve of the Olympics, IAAF president Sebastian Coe said they would challenge the currently suspended policy that places a limit on a female athlete’s natural testosterone levels.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
In pressing their case on hyperandrogenic athletes the IAAF have
ensured hostile scrutiny will always fall on women who defy norms
imposed by the powerful
Tuesday 23 August 2016 14.04 BST
Katrina Karkazis
The image that will stay with me long after the last competitor leaves Rio this week is a decidedly un-Olympic one. Caster Semenya, the women’s 800m gold medallist, extends her arms to fellow competitors Melissa Bishop of Canada and Lynsey Sharp of Great Britain. Sharp, who came in sixth, holds a tearful Bishop, who took fourth, in a tight embrace. Rather than respond to Semenya they remain in their embrace ignoring her. The photo was a sad endnote to one of the most vitriolic media and social media uproars I can recall, one in which the athletes were the casualties. And the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did nothing to quell it.
In the month leading up the to the race, a cacophonous and spurious alarm sounded unfairly on Semenya’s right to compete. She endured relentless hostility and a deluge of cruel harassment from both the traditional and online media, something she has been withstanding for the seven years since the IAAF confirmed it was investigating her. It was reported she was even provided with a security team in Rio due to concerns the hostility might turn violent.
Semenya’s athleticism was attributed to a single molecule – testosterone – as though it alone earned her the gold, undermining at once her skill, preparation and achievement. South Africa as a nation has pushed back with #handsoffcaster, coming to the defence of one of the world’s most scrutinised athletes despite her having done nothing wrong and competing with the support of the court of arbitration for sport (Cas).
It didn’t have to be this way. Instead of quashing the media storm, the IAAF aggravated it, continuing to fail in its articulation and management of the issue. On the eve of the Olympics, IAAF president Sebastian Coe said they would challenge the currently suspended policy that places a limit on a female athlete’s natural testosterone levels.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/23/caster-semenya-olympic-spirit-iaaf-athletes-women
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