It appears as though the 'restraining order' placed upon South African runner Caster Semenya will be lifted in the coming days. Semenya was suspended from competition in 2009 when IAAF officials ordered her to undergo controversial gender exams to determine whether she was indeed 'female' after dominating her competition as an 18 year old with above average race times at the world track and field championships in Berlin last year. The entire process has just reeked of both racism and sexism. Can you imagine Semenya being suspended for performing well if she was less physically developed, or if she had blonde hair and blue eyes? Semenya passed the doping tests at the time, which would have revealed abnormally high levels of testosterone if she were a cheat - it should've ended there. But, Sydney's Daily Telegraph broke with a story that the 800m champion had
"internal testes" and had neither a "womb" nor "ovaries." The story caught fire around the globe, completely undermining Semenya's accomplishment, turning the young woman into some kind of museological freak show. Of course, because she's Black and a woman, how could she have possibly achieved a record time without some 'otherworldly' justification? The IAAF should be ashamed for the cruel manner in which they have handled this entire affair. Given their history, it's not surprising in the least.
