i'm all for the attempt the IAAF is making. however, it does LOOK like they're targeting semenya when they choose the 3 events she's likely to compete in and ONLY those 3 events. no field events? no pentathlon?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I'm very conflicted. On one hand Semenya (and this seems obviously about her) does have a natural advantage. I can see how frustrating it is for the athletes she's competing against. On the other hand can anyone think of another case where an athlete has to take a medical intervention because they have a natural advantage.
I think this is a fascinating subject and hope it doesn't dissolve into opinions about what it means to be female.

Will the concept of age-groups someday be reorganized into "testosterone concentration groups"...

Not being biologically knowledgeable in the exact science of this matter, I've always thought of naturally occurring hormone levels as just that, naturally occurring. If you're not supplementing testosterone levels with outside aid, it seems unfair--to me at least--to have a governing body restrict your competition based on your naturally occurring levels.

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Blog | Strava

That’s my biggest gripe as well. If it’s the rule then it ought to apply to all the events overseen by the IAAF. I’m also very interested in how athletes are selected for testing. Are athletes required to positively affirm they meet the standard or will people be “randomly” selected for analysis.

• Looking at the title alone I feared they were putting caffeine back on the controlled list.

So this lies somewhere between “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” and “testing everyone is administratively challenging”.

I don't think this achieves the goal of avoiding unintended consequences, though. Their job is to create clear, consistent goalposts. So that athletes who may be targeting events 5-10 years from now can make reasoned decisions about what they want to go after, with some reasonable expectation they won't get the carpet pulled out from underneath them. I don't think this approach is confidence-inspiring.

It also may have the unintended consequence of incentivizing movement to those events not covered

Not be insensitive, they only gonna test those people that are always mistaken as a men.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Caster+Semenya&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix-r6Q9traAhUkrlkKHQhdANMQ_AUICigB&biw=1680&bih=870

It's (most likely) because when CAS required there to be evidence of significant benefit if these kind testosterone limits are to be imposed. And in one published study they were able to show 2-4 % benefit for the 400-800 m events (and a couple of others). That, or something similar, is likely the reason for these specific events.

Ross Tucker has more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYwZJzpC-UE

i believe i also read there were a couple of field events, pole vault one, that showed similar benefit. and, pentathlon should show benefit i would think.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Kurt Vonnegut told us where this is going long ago.

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I'm all in favor of the rule, except that it should apply across the board, to all events.
This implementation looks very political.

It's also being attacked as racist, see
https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-africa-sport/sa-athletics-south-africa-sport/1908398/castersemenya-but-what-about-all-those-muscly-white-women-asks-twitter/


We have lots of other rules to make competition fair. This is just another such artificial rule.
Age-group racing depends on discriminating between young and old. It's a wholly artificial rule.
Boxing has weight classifications. If a heavyweight identifies as a middleweight and wishes to fight in that weight class, why do we discriminate against them ? should they not be able to use their natural advantages to compete ?

That’s a nice review. He has some good insights regarding the defense of classification.

I went and dug up the original study (IAAF has it for free on their website) and the problems Ross mentions are evident. For most events a female athlete with testosterone levels above the new limit was likely not present, this includes hammer throw, pole vault, and 400m hurdles where significant improvement was reported.

It also has some interesting things to say about male throwers...

So in the spirit of fair play: If athletes with high testosterone levels will have to take drugs to limit it, will athletes with low testosterone levels be allowed to take drugs to increase it so they are all even?