Caster Semenya: Fair or Unfair? (trust me you'll want to read all of this article)

                Caster Semenya dominates the world in the 800 meters. She currently runs a 1:54.25 as her personal best which is the fourth fastest 800 of all time to be run by a woman. Recently the IAAF which is like the NBA of running won a case against her. Caster Semenya is born with an abnormally high amount of testosterone. This gives her an edge against her opponents and it is clear in the way she looks as well.
Image result for caster semenya

In this case against Caster Semenya, the IAAF would give her hormone suppressants. And since the IAAF won this case it means she will either have to start hormone therapy to lower her testosterone or not compete at all. Surprisingly, this isn't the first time that this has happened to her. From 2010-2015 she had to take this same drug in order to compete in races.

Media comes into play with this issue because there has been a lot of publicity of this story. Many people have been voicing their opinions online and have been starting lots of rumors about her possible retirement. However, at the latest IAAF meet that she attended she dismissed the comments of her retiring. She also told reporters "Hell no" when asked if she was going to take the hormone suppressants. 

I honestly feel like this is totally unfair to Semenya. Just because she was born a certain way doesn't mean she needs to take drugs to "level the playing field." To me, I feel like everyone is born with certain advantages. For example, if someone was in the NBA and was 7'3, he shouldn't have to take drugs to make him shorter. I feel like this is only because she is a woman and people don't like that she is beating her opponents by so much.  Even though she has also won 2 gold medals, it's not like she's running world records, so I feel like there is no need to be salty that she is good at what she does. 

Recently Nike released a new advertisement (I'm sure most of you guys saw it) that had to do with female empowerment. I'll link it at the bottom of this article. The ad featured Semenya and they discussed the topic about her being different from everyone else. This was a huge risk for Nike because this is such a controversial topic and they were able to incorporate their stance on the debate in their ad. Something I'm really curious about is whether or not the IAAF reached out to Nike about the ad because it went viral and I saw it on multiple social media platforms. 

In conclusion, this issue has multiple sides to it. My opinion is I think she shouldn't be forced to take the drugs especially because she was born with the abnormality. Let me know what your opinion is in the comments.   :)

Comments

  1. Parker Van OstrandMay 6, 2019 at 10:08 PM

    In my opinion, this issue right now is very controversial in the running world. Obviously, she is a very talented runner whose run some amazing times and won some very prestigious races, but like you said, she definitely isn’t breaking world records that women have set in the past. I’ve been seeing a lot of backlash towards Semenya, with many female athletes speaking out for their rights, saying that Semenya’s ability to run in women’s races is unfair to those that don’t have high levels of testosterone. I remember seeing an Olympic athlete crying after a race with Semenya, because she knew how unfair her victory was against all the other female athletes. I actually agree with your point of view on the situation, because she was born naturally with these high levels of testosterone, so her running abilities her legitimate. I don’t know enough of the case to have a strong opinion on the issue, but media has definitely played a significant role for those speaking out and expressing their opinion on this issue.


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