South Africa’s double Olympic champion Caster Semenya looks on during a press conference in Johannesburg Caster Semenya has slammed the IOC’s handling of the latest gender controversy which has truck the Paris Olympics. Phill Magakoe/AFP
South Africa’s Caster Semenya has slammed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their handling of athletes under gender scrutiny at the Paris Olympics.
Two women’s boxers at the Olympics have hit the headlines - Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting. Both are in the semi-finals of their respective weight divisions.
Khelif and Yu-ting, like Semenya, according to reports are athletes classified as having differences in sex development (DSD).
World Athletics (WA) mandated that DSD athletes should take testosterone-lowering medication to be eligible for competition since 2018. It meant that Semenya, who refuses to take the medication, has not competed at the Olympics since 2016 when she claimed her second successive title at the quadrennial showpiece event.
Isn’t it interesting how at the 2020 Olympics, when Imane Khelif lost to Kellie Harrington 🇮![CDATA[]]>🇪 in the quarterfinals, literally no one accused her of being a man?
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 1, 2024
It’s almost as if brain dead right wing morons will hope on any conspiracy theory train pic.twitter.com/jH290S4L4K
The International Boxing Association (IBA) reportedly found that Khelif and Yu-ting have XY chromosomes which means they are DSD athletes. However, the IOC does not recognise the IBA and therefore the pair were free to compete in Paris.
The IOC, meanwhile, have enforced WA’s ban on DSD athletes in track and field events.
WA president Sebastian Coe has said the ban was based "on the overarching need to protect the female category”.
Semenya has pleaded with the IOC to adopt its policies consistently across all sporting codes.
“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,” Semenya told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview in Pretoria.
“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.”
Semenya said that she believed Khelif was a great boxer and that people would always criticise when she does well, while pointing out when her results are poor, the storm dies down.
“What happened at the Olympics now is not what happened in my space. Each organisation has its own policy, boxing have their own and athletics has its own.
“It’s not about what I want, but about principles of life.”