The Castor Semenya Case: My Opinion

   Caster Semenya, is a female South African track and field athlete who won back to back gold medals in the London and Rio games. She has also won 3 world championships in that same distance. However, Caster Semenya has been speculated as an inter-sex individual, in which she has genetic advantages compared to females. For this reason, she is able to produce male sex hormones including testosterone which enhances strength and endurance. Because of her high level of testosterone, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has announced that she will have to take a medication in order to reduce her testosterone level.

Gender and Sex

  Compared to sex, gender is not binary as there are many gender expressions. These include male, female, trans-gender, and gender-fluid/gender-neutral. However, you cannot express your sex as this is a matter of biology, and genetics. The majority of the people in this world are born into 2 sexual categorizations: 46 XX or 46 XY. The XX is referred to females, as XY is referred to males. However according to the Intersex Campaign of Equality, about 1.7% of the population is born intersex. Nonetheless, those who are intersex have an advantage over XX females genetically. The Court of Arbitration for Sports ruling has confirmed that Caster Semenya is an intersex individual. They have also stated that "The DSD covered by the Regulations are limited to athletes with '46 XY DSD'." DSD stands for Disorder of Sexual Development. This happens when an individual who has an XY chromosome have genitalia which is not clearly male or female. People with DSD can be raised as male or female. The number of testosterone in these individuals can vary considerably. From this, humans with 46 XY DSD have a significant advantage over 46 XX females. Sports Organizations such as the IAAF classify athletes by sex. This means that if organizations only classify athletes by male or female, intersex athletes cannot participate in events.

My Opinion

  I believe that it is really unfair for organizations to classify athletes as male or female. This leaves intersex athletes such as Caster Semenya nowhere. If there are events for 46 XX males and 46 XY females to compete in, there is nothing for intersex individuals. They can't blame her for this as she is not purposely doing this and is born intersex. Caster Semenya herself cannot change anything. However, I believe that Caster Semenya should not compete in female events as she has significant advantages compared to them. I agree with the court stating that she must take medicine to reduce her testosterone level in order to compete, however, according to Nick Symmonds, temporarily reducing an athlete's testosterone level does not abolish the many years they have been training with increased testosterone level. This was a very hard topic to cover, but if you want to learn more about it, I will provide you with links below.

Sources
 CAS Decision
Intersex Campaign for Equality
What is the Caster Semenya Case?