Caster Semenya, a South African athlete, criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their treatment of female athletes during the Paris Olympics.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting have made headlines throughout their Olympics performances. Both are in the semifinals in their respective weight classes.
According to rumors, Khelif and Yu-ting, like Semenya, are athletes with different sex development (DSD).
Beginning in 2018, World Athletics (WA) required DSD competitors to take testosterone-lowering medication in order to compete. It meant that Semenya, who refused to take the drug, has not competed in the Olympics since 2016, when she won her second consecutive title at the quadrennial showcase event.
Isn’t it interesting how at the 2020 Olympics, when Imane Khelif lost to Kellie Harrington 🇮🇪 in the quarterfinals, literally no one accused her of being a man?
It’s almost as if brain dead right wing morons will hope on any conspiracy theory train pic.twitter.com/jH290S4L4K
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 1, 2024
The International Boxing Association (IBA) apparently discovered that Khelif and Yu-ting have XY chromosomes, indicating that they are DSD athletes. However, the IOC does not recognise the IBA, therefore the duo were free to participate in Paris.
Meanwhile, the IOC has enforced Western Australia’s restriction on DSD competitors competing in track and field events.
WA President Sebastian Coe stated that the restriction was predicated “on the overarching need to protect the female category”.
Semenya has asked with the IOC to apply its standards consistently across all sports codes.
“The IOC’s policy and constitution should not contradict each other. Sport is for all people and the constitution says no to discrimination. But the minute they allowed women to be disgraced, it confuses us,” Semenya told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview in Pretoria.
“If sport is for all, then why does the big governing body allow this sort of thing to happen? They should stand their ground and lead by example. It’s about quality leadership that safeguards, protects, and respects women.”
Semenya said that she believed Khelif was a great boxer and that people would always criticise when she does well, while pointing out when her results are poor, the storm dies down.
“What happened at the Olympics now is not what happened in my space. Each organisation has its own policy, boxing have their own and athletics has its own.
“It’s not about what I want, but about principles of life.”
