Where do we draw the line?

The world of athletics has come crashing down in recent years, it’s credibility at an all-time low. The Summer Olympics was once the pinnacle of all sporting events’ but its name has been tarnished in recent times with what seems endless doping scandals. National heroes turning to villains overnight. These highly-tuned, muscle-bound freaks of nature were idolised, and inspired millions of people around the world. A source of hope for the less fortunate, only for these athletes to turn their backs on their biggest supporters. The list of those who have fallen from grace is now nearly longer than the list of those proven to be clean: Lance Armstrong, Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Michelle Smith… I’m only getting started, the list goes on. One can’t begrudge even the biggest athletics fan from distancing themselves from the sport.

Why is it so hard to combat doping? Technology has provided so many benefits to sport. But like anything, put in the wrong hands it can be used against us. Anti-doping technology has improved exponentially in recent times, the issue is that there is an equal amount of technology (and money) going into producing performance-enhancing drugs which are designed not to be detected in doping tests. Technology in this case acts as a double-edged sword.

It has been a tough time for athletics, and it is very unfair on those athletes who are achieving great things without the assistance of steroids. They too are being branded ‘cheats’ as many looking in from the outside world assume all athletes are taking performance-enhancing drugs (Maybe they have a point?). The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) led by Seb Coe, has taken drastic steps recently in an attempt to ‘clean-up’ (literally) the sport as a whole. Harsh bans have been imposed to show doping and foul-play will no longer be tolerated. None bigger than the ban on all Russian teams at international championships. The incredible, awarding-winning Netflix documentary ‘Icarus’ (Strongly recommend watching, 5 stars!) unearthed the almost unfathomable on-goings behind the scenes in Russian labs. It will take a long time for the public’s trust and interest to be restored in the sport, but the IAAF is going about it in the correct manner. Coe has been instrumental in this, and through “transparency” one hopes he can return the sport to its former glory days, similar to a time when he was dominating middle-distance running. Only time will tell (Unknown, 2016).

Well, what has this been building too? Just as you thought athletics was overcoming its lingering problems, another fairness issue raises its head. No longer is doping the hot topic in athletics, it’s gender. Laurel Hubbard is a Kiwi-born female athlete who competes in the super heavyweight weightlifting category. Last July she caused a stir when winning the Oceania’s Pacific Games and is currently ranked 33rd in the world in her division. What makes this story unusual is Laurel competed as Gavin Hubbard in weightlifting until she transitioned to female in her mid-30’s. Controversy followed her win, as many of her competitors claimed it was unfair (Zaccardi, 2019).

Many high-profile athletes have spoken on the topic and given their opinion, none more vocal then Sonia O’Sullivan who strongly feels that it is unfair on other athletes. The problem is if Laurel Hubbard was not allowed to compete in women’s competitions, she would have nowhere else to compete. It is quite a sensitive topic, but it is encouraging to see the inclusivity of the sport, allowing Ms. Hubbard and others in a similar position to herself to compete.

Caster Semenya, is perhaps the one that ignited these gender debates. The South African has dominated the 800m and 1500m women’s races since bursting onto the world stage in 2009. Questions were raised about her sex after her victory at the 2009 world championships (Smith, 2009). The IAAF were forced to carry out a sex verification test due to Semenya’s rapid athletic progression and her appearance. The results were not to be released for confidentiality purposes but were leaked several months later and it was claimed Semenya had some intersex characteristics including high natural testosterone levels. This shows technology once again confusing rather than clarifying a situation. Understandably this would have been a very difficult time for Semenya and the IAAF faced criticism for their poor handling of the situation.

She continued to compete as she had breached no rules. Semenya has won 3 World Championships and 2 Olympic gold medals since. However, in 2018 the IAAF changed its testosterone regulations which meant that any athletes whose testosterone levels breached the natural expected limit would have to have testosterone reducing procedures. Semenya was one of these, she appealed the decision but was unsuccessful. She has not competed since 2018 as she was not willing to have testosterone-reduction procedures which is very understandable (Unknown, 2019).

Although the IAAF has attempted to make the athletics world a fair place and they must be commended for this, the likes of Caster Semenya has been very harshly mistreated in the process. An incredibly-talented athlete who didn’t get to decide what her genetic makeup would be. It is difficult to find a solution to this problem. Over to you, Lord Coe... I don't envy your job. Do you let these athletes compete or not? Maybe just having the two categories of competition, male and female is not enough? In terms of natural testosterone levels, where do we draw the line?

It’s food for thought.

Bibliography:

Smith, D., (August 2009). 'Caster Semenya row: 'Who are white people to question the makeup of an African girl? It is racism''. The Observer.

Unknown., (December 2016). 'Lord Coe's IAAF reforms to tackle corruption and doping backed'. BBC Sport - Athletics.

Unknown., (May 2019). 'Caster Semenya: Olympic 800m champion loses appeal against IAAF testosterone rules'. BBC Sport - Athletics.

Zaccardi, N., (September 2019). 'Laurel Hubbard, transgender weightlifter, faces climb to qualify for Olympics'. NBC Sport.