1. Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2009 - 13:01

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   Mernat

   

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   Mernat Mafirakurewa, AfricaNews reporter in Johannesburg, South Africa

   South Africans on Tuesday temporarily put aside the controversy surrounding Caster Semenya to offer her a befitting welcome at the O R Tambo International Airport. Supporters waved home-made placards that read "Our first lady of sport" and "100 percent female woman," as they crowded the Airport.

   

   Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of Nelson Mandela, was among the crowd, along with Semenya's parents.
   
   "We are here to tell the whole world how proud we are of our little girl," Madikizela-Mandela said. "They can write what they like."
   
   It has been suggested that Semenya may unknowingly have a medical condition that blurs her gender and gives her an unfair advantage over other female runners. She has not been accused of cheating.
   
   Semenya smiled broadly as she entered OR Tambo International Airport along with her teammates, while people sang and danced in the corridors.
   
   Reports said about 1,000 supporters greeted the gold medalist as the South African team returned home from the event in Germany.
   
   The IAAF is subjecting Semenya, 18, to gender tests after its suspicions were aroused by her sudden improvement on the track, her muscular build and deep voice.
   
   Semenya arrived along with fellow gold medalist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, long jump silver medalist Khotso Mokoena.
   
   Semenya's return was given top coverage by local media, with the Times running a wraparound souvenir poster headlined "Welcome home Caster, our champ", with a life-sized portrait of the 18-year-old.
   
   "We in South Africa have no doubts," the newspaper said in its editorial.
   
   But the IAAF says it was her rapid speed gains this year that prompted the gender test, which will take weeks to complete and include physical, medical, and psychological exams.
   
   ANC Youth League President Julius Malema congratulated her on her win and said “Like Nelson Mandela, Caster Semenya today makes us very proud”.
   
   He said, “Whether they like it or not, she is a female.” This was in reference to the controversy over her gender, which had outraged many observers.
   
   Malema questioned why there were so few white supporters in the audience saying, that if there were returning rugby stars there would be more white people.

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Reactions

1. Posted on Sunday 06 September 2009 12:03

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   Georg Facius

   

   
   1 berichten
   Lid sinds September 2009

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   For in depth information about the problems surrounding the IAAF sex test, may I suggest that you visit my website: www.123hjemmeside.dk/gender_testing.
   Below you can see my recent letter to the IAAF President, Lamine Diack about this issue.
   
   Georg Facius
   Denmark
   
   
   From: Georg M. Facius
   Date: 03-09-2009 17:45:24
   To: IAAF
   Cc: imre@iaaf.org; pierre.weiss@iaaf.org
   Subject: att.: Lamine Diack - re.: Caster Semenaya
   
   September 2009
   
   
   Dear Lamine Diack,
   
   Re.: Caster Semenaya and the IAAF sex test.
   
   On behalf of the Danish Athletic Federation I made a proposal for the 2005 IAAF Congress concerning the IAAF sex test. I supported it with – among other things – a thorough survey I had personally undertaken concerning the problems related to this issue, named "The Major Medical Blunder of the 20th Century".
   
   Unfortunately the proposal was scandalously sabotaged by the IAAF:
   
   1. 1. Only a small part of the comments accompanying the proposal were included in the congress material.
   
   2. 2. A request that the missing material should be handed out to the Congress Delegates on arrival was dismissed by IAAF, and they never received my full comments or my survey.
   
   3. 3. You yourself refused me my democratic right of speech when I was trying to make up for the information which was missing due to the suppression executed by IAAF.
   
   So, IAAF did everything possible to avoid that the issue was discussed and considered seriously, and did so with complete disregard for its own constitution and the democratic rights of the Member Federations and their delegates.
   
   Now this very serious and difficult issue has exploded right in your own face, in your own back yard, and IAAF and you are now sitting in this painful mess up to your neck with much disgrace on you and on IAAF. Obviously you had some very poor advisors in this regard who needed to defend what they had been lecturing for ages, such as Arne Lundquist who were your spokesman at the congress and who has been responsible for “sex tests” for decades in IAAF and IOC.
   
   And now IAAF is subduing Caster Semenaya to a “sex test” which is doomed to be a failure, because – as I pointed out in my survey – there is no distinct line between the two sexes, and any conclusion to the one side or the other will be a failure, and IAAF is in a fatal lose/lose situation.
   
   Since I made my survey of the issue in 2004 it has become more and more clear to the medical world that in cases of what is called intersex, one cannot come up with a definite conclusion as to the sex of any such person. Just try to Google “intersex” and take a look at the real world. Any statement as to the sex of Caster Semenaya can only be a lie. In fact there are experts who are of the opinion that all of us are intersex in at least one small way – we certainly are when we are in the state of an embryo.
   
   If the issue had been taken seriously in 2005 (or in 2003 where I brought it up already in congress for the first time) IAAF might have had some guidelines and requirements to go by today, and might have had been able to avoid this dreadful situation, and most important would not have to drag a very young athlete through this unbelievable painful and hopeless mess that you and IAAF are responsible for.
   
   Unfortunately there are some weak top leaders around in athletics, such as for example also Hans-Jörg Wirz, who surrounds themselves only with yesmen and nonentities to avoid any trouble and difficulties, and to be able to close their eyes to problems and challenges. The result is inevitable in the long run, as it is sadly demonstrated by this case.
   
   Listening to other people who voices different opinions and ideas may be problematic or even painful, but necessary for every good leader and every good organization. It is a great pity that IAAF is no longer such an organization.
   
   Attached is the material mentioned above, and I suggest that you take a look also at my website: www.123hjemmeside.dk/gender_testing
   
   If you and the IAAF Council are not going to act on this, and make the necessary changes, I most certainly hope that there will be some more responsible persons to take over with a more realistic approach to real life, than what can be found now in the IAAF ivory tower.
   
   
   Regards,
   
   Georg Facius
   Denmark
   
   www.123hjemmeside.dk/facius
   www.123hjemmeside.dk/eaa-anti-doping
   www.123hjemmeside.dk/gender_testing

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