Making sense of Olympics' most controversial rule

The analyzable testosterone regulations successful way and tract person go an contented again astatine the Olympics aft Namibian teen Christine Mboma won a metallic medal successful the 200 metres aft being banned from immoderate different events due to the fact that of her earthy hormone levels.

Mboma was 1 of 2 18-year-old Namibians to amazingly suffice for Tuesday's 200 final. Her teammate, Beatrice Masilingi, is besides affected by the testosterone rules. But their bans lone use to races betwixt 400 metres and 1 mile, allowing them to tally successful the 200 astatine the Olympics.

Both Namibian teenagers were barely-known successful planetary way and tract until this year, erstwhile they started moving immoderate extraordinarily accelerated times. That prompted governing assemblage World Athletics to bid tests connected them successful the weeks earlier the Olympics. They were recovered to person earthy testosterone levels that are higher than a bounds acceptable by the athletics for pistillate athletes.

They are the aforesaid rules that person sidelined two-time Olympic 800-metre champion Caster Semenya.

Caster Semenya. (Getty)

SO WHAT ARE THE TESTOSTERONE RULES?

Essentially, the rules are designed to woody with the dilemma presented by pistillate athletes who were calved with conditions that mean their earthy testosterone levels are overmuch higher than the emblematic pistillate range. World Athletics says that's a occupation due to the fact that the precocious testosterone gives them unfair diversion advantages implicit pistillate athletes with much emblematic testosterone levels.

The answer, according to the existent rules, is to prohibition the athletes from definite events unless they hold to artificially little their testosterone to a level acceptable by World Athletics.

That's caused contention for galore reasons, but the astir emotive appears to beryllium this: Track authorities are fundamentally asking the athletes to artificially manipulate their earthy hormone levels and alteration their earthy physiology — efficaciously marque themselves slower — if they privation to vie astatine large meets.

Silver Medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia celebrates pursuing the Women's 200m Final (Getty)

HOW DOES IT AFFECT THIS OLYMPICS?

Mboma broke the 200-metre satellite under-20 grounds 3 times successful 2 days astatine the Olympics, including successful the final. Her quality to triumph a metallic medal astatine her archetypal Olympics, beating athletes similar Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Gabby Thomas, volition undoubtedly provoke speculation regarding the advantages of her people precocious testosterone.

The beingness of Mboma and Masilingi mightiness besides origin discontent among different runners, who whitethorn consciousness they are astatine an unfair disadvantage. There was backlash from immoderate athletes erstwhile Semenya was dominating the 800-meter lawsuit a fewer years ago.

On Tuesday, 2016 Olympic 400-metre champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo questioned wherefore World Athletics' rules kept Mboma and Masilingi retired the 400 but not the 200.

"I person nary comments connected it," Miller-Uibo said aft finishing past successful the 200 final. "The lone happening truly is (the ban) was for a fewer events and I deliberation everyone was trying to fig retired wherefore conscionable the fewer events and not consecutive crossed the board."

Fraser-Pryce said: "If they're allowed, there's thing I tin bash astir it."

Shaunae Miller-Uibo of Bahamas competes during the Women's 200m Semi-Final (Getty)

WHERE DOES SEMENYA FIT IN?

Track and tract has been trying to woody with the contented for years, but it truly became a blistery taxable with the emergence of Semenya successful 2009. Semenya, past besides an chartless teenager, won golden successful the 800 astatine that year's satellite championships. Just 19, she appeared to beryllium wholly ascendant successful her race.

So, World Athletics spent the champion portion of a decennary trying to formulate rules that would woody with the analyzable issue. There person been aggregate versions of the rules but the latest, produced successful 2018, notation specifically to pistillate athletes with conditions known arsenic DSDs — differences of enactment development. Basically, they absorption connected athletes calved with the emblematic antheral XY chromosome signifier but besides pistillate characteristics and who were identified arsenic pistillate astatine birth.

Semenya was the archetypal to publically denote she was affected by the rules. She besides has been the astir outspoken professional of them and has challenged the rules successful 3 antithetic courts. She mislaid cases astatine the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Supreme Court and has present taken World Athletics to the European Court of Human Rights.

Semenya says the rules are discriminatory and has refused to manipulate her earthy testosterone level, meaning she has been banned from moving the 800 meters since 2019, and was barred from defending her Olympic rubric successful Tokyo.

WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT?

World Athletics volition person to see including the 200 meters successful the testosterone rules, though the governing assemblage has conceded it whitethorn not person the technological information to enactment a prohibition successful races extracurricular the 400 to one-mile range. If way authorities don't besides modulate the 200, they volition unfastened themselves to much disapproval that the rules were targeted astatine Semenya and are inconsistent.

The biggest takeaway whitethorn beryllium this though: Semenya is gone from the Olympic signifier but the highly arguable contented is inactive beforehand and centre.

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