Friday, July 9, 2010

Caster Semenya has been found female by the IAAF

South African runner Caster Semenya is officially a woman, as outlined by International Association of Athletics Federations tests intended to verify her gender. It only took 11 months for the IAAF to determine whether Caster was a man or a woman, and throughout the trying ordeal, Semenya was barred from practicing her trade. Now she has been cleared to run again, to “compete with immediate effect,” according to an IAAF press release obtained by NBC Sports.

Source of article: UPDATE – Tests confirm Caster Semenya is a woman, can compete by Personal Money Store

Caster Semenya will compete at the World Junior Championships

On July 19, 2010, Caster Semenya will return to competition at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. That is all that is known coming out of the long IAAF investigation, as the organization is keeping its no doubt exhaustive testing methods and findings confidential. Semenya is understandably overjoyed. Some sources speculate that Caster may have had to undergo a special medical treatment as part of negotiations with the IAAF, but this has yet to be proven.

A South African hero – what’s ambiguous about that?

After Caster Semenya’s dominant gold medal performance within the 800 meter run at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, reports of Semenya’s inconsistent gender testing results surfaced. As outlined by various sources, Semenya’s results showed that she had male and female sex organs. South Africa rallied behind its new international sensation when the IAAF dragged its feet in making a final determination as to whether she could continue to compete. The media exposure was explosive, to say the least. Yet as legal training methods and supplements continue to blur the line between man and woman, the thought of a unisex society is gradually becoming more science fact than science fiction. Maybe Semenya is a new breed of female athlete, a child of human evolution. Attorney Jeffrey Kessler reminds that what’s significant now is that Caster Semenya can run again in competition.

What do you think about Caster Semenya?

Do you believe that Caster Semenya was treated appropriately by the IAAF? Does her physiology grant her an unfair advantage over her female peers? Or is it a matter of other women simply needing to catch up with the march of training and human genetics? Amateur athletics may not pay a salary, but success leads to commercial endorsements. Caster Semenya has proven her ability to attract attention, which certainly won’t hurt her chances. Let us know what you think.

Discover more about this topic here:

NBC Sports

nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38105633/



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