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Billy Jean-King aside, nobody expects women to be able to compete with men in sports. Men produce higher testosterone levels than women, giving them an athletic advantage, therefore men and women must be segregated in sports to keep the playing field even. However, testosterone levels in men and women vary. For example, Caster Semenya won gold in the 2009 women’s world championship in the 800m swim. The International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) tested her for enhancing drugs and for being a man. The results of the drug test were negative. The results of the gender test are kept confidential for privacy. The results are unimportant. The article focuses on what Semenya’s case means for anti-doping, for women’s sports, and for competitive sports in
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We segregate men and women in sports to eliminate unfair genetic advantages. Is it then unfair when a genetically female athlete with an intersex condition wins an event? Foddy and Savulesco (2010), offer an option for dealing with natural variation in testosterone. Instead of separating men and women, define a limit based on the level of testosterone in an individual’s blood. Above the limit athletes would compete as men and below the limit athletes would compete as women. This would create a “hormonal level-playing field”. Foddy and Savulesco don’t argue for or against testosterone segregation, they simply discuss the …show more content…
An athlete may have an inherent advantage, but that doesn’t guarantee that the athlete will live up to that potential. I believe that hard work and effort can make up for lack of athleticism. I do acknowledge that a genetically lucky, hard-working athlete has a competitive advantage. There are no guarantees in sports. We tune into games every week routing for the underdog. Often times David triumphs Goliath. I personally believe that doping athletes to create a hormonal level playing field destroys the integrity of sport.
In the case of Caster Semenya, the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney reported that she had internal testes and no womb or ovaries. The IAAF has refused to confirm or deny this report, but if it were correct, this would be indicative of AIS (Foddy & Savulescu, 2010, p.1185). Semenya never took any performance enhancing drugs and has never cheated. I personally don’t believe that AIS is a reason to discredit her victories. Semenya competed to the best of her abilities and reached her potential and should be commended for doing
We segregate men and women in sports to eliminate unfair genetic advantages. Is it then unfair when a genetically female athlete with an intersex condition wins an event? Foddy and Savulesco (2010), offer an option for dealing with natural variation in testosterone. Instead of separating men and women, define a limit based on the level of testosterone in an individual’s blood. Above the limit athletes would compete as men and below the limit athletes would compete as women. This would create a “hormonal level-playing field”. Foddy and Savulesco don’t argue for or against testosterone segregation, they simply discuss the …show more content…
An athlete may have an inherent advantage, but that doesn’t guarantee that the athlete will live up to that potential. I believe that hard work and effort can make up for lack of athleticism. I do acknowledge that a genetically lucky, hard-working athlete has a competitive advantage. There are no guarantees in sports. We tune into games every week routing for the underdog. Often times David triumphs Goliath. I personally believe that doping athletes to create a hormonal level playing field destroys the integrity of sport.
In the case of Caster Semenya, the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney reported that she had internal testes and no womb or ovaries. The IAAF has refused to confirm or deny this report, but if it were correct, this would be indicative of AIS (Foddy & Savulescu, 2010, p.1185). Semenya never took any performance enhancing drugs and has never cheated. I personally don’t believe that AIS is a reason to discredit her victories. Semenya competed to the best of her abilities and reached her potential and should be commended for doing