Tests show Caster Semenya ‘is a hermaphrodite’

Caster Semenya

Sydney Morning Herald reports the South African athlete possesses both male and female sex organs

LAST UPDATED AT 08:08 ON Fri 11 Sep 2009

One of the longest running sagas in athletics has taken a new twist, with an Australian newspaper claiming today that medical reports show the 800m world champion, Caster Semenya, is a hermaphrodite. The Sydney Morning Herald said that medical examinations of the 18-year-old South African show that she possesses both male and female sexual organs.

The newspaper reports that "extensive physical examinations" show Semenya has no ovaries but does possess internal male testes, "which are producing large amounts of testosterone". The paper notes that "the presence of both male and female characteristics will come as a devastating blow to Semenya, who has fought off snide remarks about her masculine appearance for much of her life."

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which commissioned the tests, were trying to contact Semenya, but were finding that their efforts were not being aided by the athlete's domestic athletics body, Athletics South Africa (ASA). The ASA denies that it hampering bid to contact Semenya, who this week received a makeover in a South African magazine.

The IAAF claimed that even if the tests did prove that the athlete was a hermaphrodite, they would be unlikely to take the gold medal away from her. "These tests do not suggest any suspicion of deliberate misconduct but seek to assess the possibility of a potential medical condition which would give Semenya an unfair advantage over her competitors," the Herald quoted IAAF spokesman Nick Davies as saying. "There is no automatic disqualification of results in a case like this."

Davies continued: ""We have received the results from Germany, but they now need to be examined by a group of experts and we will not be in a position to speak to the athlete about them for at least a few weeks. After that, depending on the results, we will meet privately with the athlete to discuss further action." · 

Comments

John Faure, The SMH had the guts to print the truth unlike politically correct fools like you. The convicst were actually British subjects not Australian, Australia did not become a nation until 1901 and the convict trade stopped in 1868. Only 165,000 convicts were transported to Australia which pales in comparison to free Settlers. I sense alot of jealousy and bigotry in your vile words. It seems your knowledge of Australian history in zilch and I would feel repulsed to mix with you.

Yip, what more can you expect from a newspaper that serves a "Nation of Convicts" where ethics, integrity and being honourable is against their cultural values. The convict mentality is so ingrained in Australian society it fills one with revulsion to mix with them

I'm not sure which rock @Molon Labe crawled out from under, but could he/she please do us all a favour and crawl back under it? Thank you.

Pretty brutal comment above. If Caster is a hermaphrodite then she can't be allowed to compete as a woman. However, none of this can be classed as her responsibility. Pretty sure she didn't grow internal testes out of choice, after all!

This is, in fact, brutally simple:

Two (2) functioning testicles + XY karyotype = emphatically MALE.

No ovaries, uterus, or Barr Body = emphatically NOT FEMALE.

HE is a mediocre athlete as a 19 year old male.

To permit HIM to compete against REAL WOMEN with HIS androgen-enhanced physique is a travesty, which undermines the entire philosophy of gender segregation in sports. If you really want to be "fair," then you must discard the entire concept of gender in athletics; of course, then we'd see neither Caster nor any genuine XX-female in future world-class track & field competitions.

Should an entire generation of elite female runners be relegated to competing for a (distant) second place, merely to spare Caster hurt feelings? Deal with it, MAN!

In all likelihood, HE is not some esoteric genetic mosaic. Caster was probably born XY with a penis + bilateral cryptorchidism - undescended testicles (the most common birth defect in males). His government-paid physicians in SA concluded that penectomy was easier/cheaper than orchidopexy. Who will ever know? Get ready for ObamaCare, mommas!

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