Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old South African, last night won gold in the 800 metres but she may be forced to return the medal if she fails a gender-verification test. this kind of situation has come up before with men running as women but these have been deliberate attempts to cheat the system.
This particular situation could be harder to sort out, it could be that Caster has been born with the rare condition that gives her female Genitalia but male chromosomes. there is a process in place to decide under which gender she/he will be classified under, it involves an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist.
The last athlete to fail a gender test was Santhi Soundarajan, the Indian 800 metres runner, who was stripped of the silver medal she won at the 2006 Asian games.
So until this is decided I won’t know whether to shout “Go on mate” or “ Come on darling”. On a serious note I hope she is classed as a woman because that will mean she is an exceptional talent, and who knows where she may take women’s middle distance running.
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