[Jimbuna]

Caster Semenya hits out at Olympic chiefs over ‘inconsistent’ gender rules

Caster Semenya has hit out at gender rule inconsistencies at the Olympics as she waded in to the row over the two boxers who allegedly failed sex tests.

Semenya, who has differences in sex development (DSD), controversially won Olympic gold in the women’s 800 metres at both 2012 and 2016.

But if she were competing in the same event now she would need to lower her testosterone levels under rules brought in by World Athletics.

Speaking out for the first time about the row engulfing Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, Semenya suggested the International Olympic Committee should take some blame. “What happened at the Olympics now is not what happened in my space,” Semenya said, in reference to the IOC effectively accepting Khelif and Lin because it states ‘woman’ on their passports. “Each organisation has its own policy – boxing have their own and athletics has its own.”

The inclusion of DSD athletes like Semenya as well as transgender athletes at previous Olympics has been one of the most contentious issues the IOC has dealt with in the modern era.

The IOC now says ultimately it is up to individual sports to decide their rules based on “robust and peer-reviewed science” with competitors excluded when research “demonstrates a consistent, unfair and disproportionate competitive advantage and/or an unpreventable risk to the safety of the athletes”.

Semenya suggests the current row in boxing suggests a one-size-fits-all rule would be a better fit for the Games. She suggested she could relate to Algerian Khelif, who is now guaranteed a medal in Paris.

“Imane is a great boxer and people always criticise when someone is doing well, people always talk then,” Semenya told Sportsboom.com. “When she wasn’t winning, then everyone was quiet. But the IOC’s policy and constitution should not contradict each other. Sport is for all people and the constitution says no to discrimination. But the minute they allowed women to be disgraced, it confuses us.

“If sport is for all, then why does the big governing body allow this sort of thing to happen? They should stand their ground and lead by example. It’s about quality leadership that safeguards, protects and respects women.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/othe...98ece48d&ei=50