US athlete Tianna Bartoletta reacts during the final of the women’s long jump athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Andrej ISAKOVIC
Female Olympians speak out against IAAF’s testosterone policy
Strong words.
US athlete Tianna Bartoletta reacts during the final of the women’s long jump athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Andrej ISAKOVIC
There’s been no letting up since the IAAF announced this week that it will force women with naturally higher levels of testosterone to reduce it, change codes or quit the sport altogether.
The controversial new ruling has been widely criticised with the ANC even going so far as to call it “blatantly racist“.
The ruling will affect a number of athletes, with the most high profile likely being South Africa’s Caster Semenya.
South Africa’s Queen of the Track has been completely chilled about the whole thing – and hasn’t directly commented on it, but she has been dropping some shade on her Instagram account.
However, other elite athletes aren’t keeping quiet.
Dutee Chand, the Indian sprinter who challenged a previous policy with similar restrictions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and won her case, called it “wrong” and offered her legal team’s help to Semenya.
But other athletes are speaking out, too.
Erica Weibe, a Canadian wrestler and reigning Olympic champion in the women’s 75kg freestyle category, Tweeted:
I believe in #fairsport, #cleansport and #sportforsocialchange but I don’t believe in policing women’s participation in sport because they don’t fit within Western conventions of femininity. C’mon @iaaforg @iocmedia https://t.co/sjWrYuhmwC
— Erica Wiebe (@ericawiebe) April 27, 2018
Tianna Bartoletta, an American track and field athlete with three Olympic gold medals to her name, also hit out.
Just wondering when I report to IAAF headquarters so I can take the “female eligibility” test. Oh wait…
— Tianna Tashelle (@tianna_mad) April 26, 2018
Bartoletta added a string of Tweets, criticising the IAAF for focussing on the wrong problems in sport. The Olympian feels that the bigger issue is earning opportunities for professional athletes.
“Long jumpers have FOUR diamond league competitions. Our sponsors (who are well within their right to) pay based on exposure. Well…what do you think happens to our sponsorship dollars when we’re moved to pre-program pre-broadcast, or we’re cut from meets entirely?
“So sure, let’s focus on passing legislation to determine the fate of maybe two or three female athletes instead of solving the problem of the increasingly endangered professional track athlete.”
She later added:
‘Anyone who breaches confidentiality harasses an athlete, or infringes her dignity or her privacy, will be disciplined under the IAAF Integrity Code..Campaigns against them on the basis that their experience does not conform to gender stereotypes are unacceptable.’
The IAAF made this statement in the SAME document in which they announced and explained their eligibility regulations for female classification. So I’m confused…isn’t all of this happening now? Because of this announcement?
I don’t want to keep going on and on about this BUT all of us have to stop letting things slide. Letting a bunch of seemingly small mistreatments slide for too long is like Chinese Water Torture. How much can we take and for how long before we realize we’re broken?
At the centre of the IAAF controversy is that the ruling is being arbitrarily applied to only certain events and the governing body seemingly trying to police women’s bodies according to these arb standards.
