Caster Semenya Male/Female Controversy Continues

South African Caster Semenya

This past Wednesday, the IAAF announced that Caster Semenya is “still undergoing gender tests,” which means that one of the most talked-about stories in all of sport, since it first made headlines at the World Championships in Berlin, is still without an ending, happy or otherwise. That it is taking months to come up with a solution is a vivid illustration of the complexity of a controversy that, in the end, will have no winners.

According to Jill Geer, if the calls for sex-testing Semenya were due to something beyond just how she looks or sounds, to include knowledge of events or discussions that went on prior to Berlin, that’s another circumstance entirely.

Semenya’s gender questioned

Semenya is almost universally, and rightly, considered to be an innocent in this who has been wronged by those around her, most of whom, it must be noted, seem to have external male genitalia. But an obvious mistake that Semenya did make came in Berlin. After winning the 800 in impressive fashion, she crossed the finish line and flexed her muscles. Maybe it was an act of defiance and of wanting to explode gender codes. But if it was her hope that people would focus on her running and not the headlines, it was a colossal error in judgment, according to Geer.

South Africa’s 800m sensation, Caster Semenya, has been under scrutiny due to amazing victory in Berlin World Championships, on the grounds that the IAAF had conducted tests on her to establish her sex, and that she might be male.

Four months later the IAAF has not established any firm proof that Semenya is a male, although she has gone through numerous test.

There have been rumors that she will be allowed to keep her gold medal from Berlin, but that she will be banned from future competition because she test unusually high for testosterone.

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Ozaki wins Japan’s Lone Medal in Berlin

Japan's Yoshimi Ozaki, placed second in marathon

     In the IAAF World Championships from Berlin it was Japan’s Yoshimi Ozaki leading most of the way in the grueling marathon (42K) race before being passed by China’s Bai Xue in the final kilometer.

    Xue won the gold medal clocking 2 hours 25 minutes and 15 seconds with Ozaki taking the silver finishing 10 seconds behind Xue.

    Ozaki’s medal was the only one that Japan could muster during the two week world championships in track and field.

China's Bai Xue win the marathon at the World Championships in Berlin

Top 20 Male Performances at World Track & Field Championships

Long jump champion, Dwight Phillips

All-athletics.com has ranked the top 20 male performaces at the IAAF World Championship Track & Field Meet from Berlin.

Usain Bolt	100m
Usain Bolt	200m
Jamaica	4x100m
Tyson Gay	100m
Ezekiel Kemboi	3000mSC
Kenenisa Bekele	10000m
Abel Kirui	Marathon
Christian Cantwell	Shot Put
Lashawn Merritt	400m
Dwight Phillips	Long Jump
Phillips Idowu	Triple Jump
Sergey Kirdyapkin	50km Walk
Trey Hardee	Decathlon
Robert Harting	Discus
Kerron Clement	400m Hurdles
Steven Hooker	Pole Vault
Ryan Braithwaite	110m Hurdles
Valeriy Borchin	20km Walk
Trinidad and Tobago	4x100m
Alonso Edwards	200m
Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong	3000mSC
USA	4x400m

New World Rankings – Track & Field – Women

Sanya Richards, USA, winner of the 400 in Berlin

     Sanya Richards, USA, was one of many athletes that shook up the world rankings with her victory in the 400 meter dash in Berlin.   Following is the new world rankings for women based on their Berlin performance.

100m	Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM)
200m	Olivia Borlee (BEL)
400m	Sanya Richards (USA)
800m	Caster Semenya (RSA)
1500m	Kelly McNeice-Reid (IRL)
5000m	Svetlana Kudelich (BLR)
10000m	Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (KEN)
110/100m Hurdles	Brigitte Foster-Hylton (JAM)
400m Hurdles	Melaine Walker (JAM)
3000m Steeple	Marta Dominquez (ESP)
High Jump	Blanka Vlasic (CRO)
Pole Vault	Anna Rogowska (PC)
Long Jump	Clélia Reuse (SUI)
Triple Jump	Yargeris Savigne (CUB)
Shot Put	Valerie Vili (NZL)
Discus Throw	Eden Francis (GBR)
Hammer Throw	Katerina Safránková (CZE)
Javelin Throw	Steffi Nerius (GER)
Race Walking	Olga Kaniskina (RUS)
Decathlon/Heptathlon	Maiju Mattila (FIN)

 

Steffi Nerius of Germany wins the Javelin event

Usain Bolt New World Record – 9.58 seconds

Bolt set new world record in Berlin

  

 

Usain Bolt

The much anticipated showdown between two of the fastest men in the world came to a head today in Berlin during the IAAF World Championships in Track and Field.

 

     Bolt, from Jamaica, is the current world record holder in the 100 meter dash at 9.69 seconds, but Gay claimed that he could beat Bolt in Berlin and thus set a new world record.

 

    Both men have been doing their competing from afar this season. Tyson Gay posts an impressive time in the 100 or 200 meters in New York or Rome. Usain Bolt answers with a similar time in Paris or Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

Tyson Gay

The last time a United States track & field team participated in Berlin was in 1936 when the legendary Jesse Owens won four gold medals.

 

    In Berlin the near capacity crowd of 74,000 watched as American Tyson Gay and “Lightning Bolt” exploded out of the blocks.

     Bolt was in third for the first 30 meters before blowing away the competition and setting a new world record in 9.58 seconds.

    American, Tyson Gay, finished second.