Track And Field Gender Bender

Weird story out of the track and field world today.

It seems the runaway winner in the women’s 800 meters at the World Championships, South Africa’s Caster Semenya, MAY NOT BE A WOMAN.

Semenya didn’t just win the race, she (and for the purpose of continuity, I’ll be calling her “she” throughout this post) absolutely dominated….beating her nearest competitor (and defending world champ) by a whopping 2.5 seconds.

It turns out the track and field federation has been on to Semenya for some time now and requested a gender test be performed about three weeks ago. According to the governing body, those tests take a while turn up results.

I’ve included a video of the race so you can see for yourself, but when I first checked out Semenya, I have to admit….I thought dude all the way.

It’s not just the muscular frame and dominating performance. It’s the facial features. The hair under the arm pits (sorry if I’m getting gross). According to several articles, she’s had VISIBLE facial hair at times.

This story is weird and has the potential to get a lot weirder. However, if it doesn’t, I owe Semenya an apology.

I imagine the WORST insult you can direct towards a woman is that she doesn’t look like a woman at all. That beats “Yes, honey, that dress DOES make you look fat” by a long shot.

Like I said, at first glance, I have my doubts. But credit the South African delegation with standing behind Semenya 100%. They said “our conscience is clear in terms of Caster.”

They also said, “We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way.”

I nominate that for WEIRDEST QUOTE OF THE YEAR.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle