Is the favorite in the women's 800m actually a man?

Would her birth cert or passport not have to have been presented to the officials at some point? surely that would be proof enough?
 
I thought when competing a high level all women had to have XX/XY Chromosomes test to insure no one got carried away with a knife!
 
Ciaraella said:
Would her birth cert or passport not have to have been presented to the officials at some point? surely that would be proof enough?
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A birth cert doesn't prove anything. I feel really sorry for her and it could have been handled in a much better way. This is a medical issue and should have been dealt with behind closed doors until they came up with a conclusive answer. Not at the World Championships.
 
Given that she is only 18 it is very very unlikely that she has undergone any form of gender transformation or anything, so surely they could have organised a doctor/Gyno to examine her in private without this big fuss - that would very easily put the rumors to bed!. There was a woman on the radio this morning from the same part of Africa as her and she said that this girls life will really be ruined but this, it is a huge slur on her and this will stay with her for the rest of her life, she might not be accepted in her own community as a result.
 

It's not as easy as that. By the sounds of it, she was born suffering from intersexuality and was brought up as a woman. It's not just a case of looking down her pants! No-one is claiming that she is actually cheating and is pretending to be a woman.
 
The gender test for international sport involves hormone and DNA testing and not just looking at your front bum.
Agreed that this should have been dealt with way in advance of a major championship
 
If she does have male and female chromosomes and has done from birth, has been brought up as a female, lived as a female, legally is considered female then why should she have to go through any form of testing?. For the sake of argument, what will happen if her tests were to come back and say that actually she should have been brought up as a male as she has more male chromosomes/dna - would she be disqualified even though she has been raised as a female since birth?? - When the gender is a grey area who decides?
 
Holtend82 said:
The athlete should not have to be examined just because of rumours !
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To be fair she came from nowhere. Her times were improving way too quickly. She knocked 8 seconds off her best time last month which is too big an improvement for 800m for suspicions not to be raised. The questions should be asked but I think she is probably more a victim than a cheat.
 
I feel very sorry for her having to go through this in front of the whole world. No one should have to go through that.

I suppose we wont know untill the test results come back.

I must admit when i saw this thread i googled her and looked at a lot of pictures, not in a single one would i of thought she was female. And she doesn't even try to be more feminine, you would of thought that if she was really a he she would try a lot harder to look more female.
 

As far as I know, if the hormone and DNA tests come back as "more" male than female, I think that she will be barred from competing as a female, even as it is a grey area as you say.
 
huskerdu said:
As far as I know, if the hormone and DNA tests come back as "more" male than female, I think that she will be barred from competing as a female, even as it is a grey area as you say.
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But she is legally considered a woman and has been since birth??
 
ney001 said:
But she is legally considered a woman and has been since birth??
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I don't think even the IAAF know what will happen if she isn't cheating but there is some problem due to natural causes. It would be a legal nightmare.
 
ney001 said:
... When the gender is a grey area who decides?
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There is no grey area - the organising body for the world championships (name ?) has a "standard" for gender recognition; either your test results can confirm you meet the "standard" or you don't.

I think its sad that it has been left to this stage to look for the tests given that the performance improvements pre-date the World Championships. I mean no disrespect, but looking at the poor girl at the centre of the controversy during the 800m heats, I was struck by the physical similarities between her and certain Iron Curtain "ladies" of the 70's and 80'.
 

They may be able to stop her competing in the future (and even then there could be legal challenge) but even the IAAF say they might not have any legal basis to take off any medals won.

To be fair to the IAAF, she only really came onto the scene 3 weeks ago when she smashed the South African record. It was at that stage they asked for tests to be carried out but apparently they take months so they couldn't stop here competing in Berlin. Not sure why they announced they were looking into it a couple of hours before the final though.
 
When she won the race I was hoping one of the English tabloids would run with a headline like "Mighty Hermaphrodite".

They've gone very dull lately.
 
Sunny said:
She knocked 8 seconds off her best time last month which is too big an improvement for 800m for suspicions not to be raised.
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I went running last night and knocked 50 seconds off my 4 mile PB. Why? I just felt really good and pumped it.

I realise this fact adds no value to the thread.
 
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