Tests Allegedly Reveal Runner Caster Semenya Is a Hermaphrodite

After easily winning gold in the women's 800 meter race at August's World Championships in Berlin, South Africa's Caster Semenya found herself the target of allegations that she was not actually a woman. At the time, International Amateur Athletics Federation officials were quick to note that Semenya was undergoing gender testing, but the results would take a while.

Well, it's been a while, and the results are now in. Semenya is reportedly intersexed, possessing both male and female genital organs.

The New York Daily News reports that Semenya lacks both a uterus and ovaries but has undescended testicles instead. While the Daily News article doesn't mention anything about Semenya's external organs, the fact that she was raised as a woman suggests that her external genitals are female.

(The results of the tests have not been released by the IAAF, and the report of the results appears to be based on a single anonymous source. That doesn't mean the report is false; it just means that it's based on one person's word, and we don't know who that person is.)

If true, Semenya might lose her gold medal. She might lose even more than that, in fact.

Australia's Daily Telegraph was the first to report the findings, citing an unidentified source with close ties to the investigation. The Telegraph reports that the source believes South African athletics officials knew the nature of Semenya's situation but chose not to investigate.

The UK newspaper The Telegraph reported this quote from IAAF Secretary General Pierre Weiss: "It is clear that she is a woman, but maybe not 100 percent. We have to see if she has an advantage from her possibly being between two sexes compared to the others." The Telegraph also speculates that Semenya will be allowed to keep her medal, but will be disqualified from future women's races.

All sources agree that Semenya's testosterone levels are at least three times what is considered normal in a female. However, before you jump to the conclusion that these levels prove Semenya is a man, bear in mind that the range of normal testosterone levels in a man is roughly 10 to 12 times that of a woman. If Semenya's level is three times that of the highest level usually considered normal in a woman (80 nanograms per liter of blood), her level would still fall well below the lowest level considered normal in a man (300 ng/L).

Semenya's family and South African officials are strongly dismissive of the reports. Semenya's mother claims jealousy is the motive behind the allegations; the South African officials correctly note that the IAAF has not officially released the test results and are urging everyone to back off from Semenya until the next IAAF Council meeting in November.

The saddest thing in all of this is the effect it's having and will continue to have on Caster Semenya. It would be one thing if her elevated testosterone levels were the result of, say, steroid use. Testosterone is considered a performance enhancing substance, after all. If the reports of Semenya's physiology are true, however, then her elevated testosterone level is not the result of anything she has done and is entirely outside her control. She may lose her chance to run competitively over something which is no one's fault at all, least of all her own.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-11-2009 @ 2:46PM

Sandy K said...

I WONDER WHAT THE BIBLE THUMPERS WILL HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS, SINCE THEY SAY ALL SEXUAL MATTERS ARE SO BLACK AND WHITE, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, AND THAT GOD DOESN'T MAKE ANYTHING IN BETWEEN?

9-11-2009 @ 2:54PM

chertueos said...

This is a bible believer. To debunk your obvious
misunderstanding about hermaphroditism, there is
only one set either female or male organs operational. I hope you get to know some of us
bible thumpers, we are pretty nice people--as I'm sure you are. Lets be friends and not critics. The world needs love.

9-11-2009 @ 3:32PM

krileyc said...

Chertueos, in this case, neither "set" of sex organs are operational. If what they are saying is true, Semenya lacks uterus and ovaries but also lacks a penis. They say that Semenya does have testicles, but they are in the pelvis so are not operational. The lack of breast tissue was never remarkable because runners rarely have much body fat. Human embryos start out with a female form and then the male organs develop out of the rudimentary female organs in the presence of male hormones, unless that development is interrupted somehow. This would not be a true hermaphrodite, but what's called a pseudohermaphrodite -- may look like female on the outside but is chromosomally male and is considered a birth defect.

9-11-2009 @ 3:51PM

zane grey said...

The intersex condition is AIS. We are not freaks of nature. Female outside, but lacking some female organs inside. She IS a she. Intersex conditions (in various ways) happen a LOT more than you know. It is not the rarity it seems. Trust me ;)
ZG

9-11-2009 @ 5:28PM

hdr5150 said...

I find it IMPOSSIBLE to believe that this "person" didn't have any idea that there was something unusual about her. At 18, she hadn't mensturated, and her parents didn't bother bringing to a doctor to find out why? I think everyone on the inside (her coaches, trainers, etc, right down the line) knew exactly what was going on here. And all those idiots that were so up in arms about her being a female can just STFU now. Especially those tossing in the race card for good measure, saying that if this was a WHITE girl, her gender wouldn't have been questioned. Put a sock in it!

9-11-2009 @ 9:23PM

Guayo Jr said...

I'm not black, in fact I'm Hispanic. Just wondering if they even gender tested Mexican runner Ana Guevara? I never heard of anything and to me she too is man-ish, Adam's apple and all. Wondering if it's because Semenya is black and Guevara is light skinned. What if they gender tested Guevara and pending her results would they take away all the medals she won and records she broke?

9-12-2009 @ 12:39AM

ConantheAmerican said...

obviously she new she wasn't normal. there are a couple rare genetic disorders that can cause what she has. she may identify as a female but that is irrelevant. gender reality should trump gender identity. she should not be allowed to compete. some tranny wants to box female boxers, should we let him simply because he wants to be female?

the other isue is the coverup. who knew what and when?

9-12-2009 @ 12:41AM

for all the race hustlers, her own teammates were the ones who wanted her tested. lose the race angle losers.

9-12-2009 @ 2:39AM

Kathy said...

As I have read about this runner, she came from a "poor village in Africa". My thought is that if she appeared healthy, there were many other priorities that took precedence during her growing up. Maybe noticing differences.. but accepting of them and moving on.

9-13-2009 @ 6:35PM

caitlin said...

SHE is a she, to me. For those of you asking "At 18, she hadn't mensturated, and her parents didn't bother bringing to a doctor to find out why?" would you really want to go to a doctor and say "Look. I don't have a vagina, I'm a freak of nature"? No. I didn't think so. Read the articles, get the facts. A normal man has 10-12 times more testosterone than a woman whereas she has only 3 times more, which is still below the lowest level considered normal in a man. And don't even get me started on the race factor. We all know that if she was light-skinned she probably wouldn't have been questioned as much and her private matters wouldn't have been displayed so publicly. I am white, fifteen years old, and a runner myself. I believe what Caster and her family say. This world disgusts me.