It is an absolute shame that an athlete had to endure something like this. My question is where were the women in that room when this issue was being discussed? No one had the common sense to realize this was a very personal issue when the gender questioning started? Men can be unaware of such issues but I believe any woman in that room should have acted to protect this young lady.

Can you imagine your greatest achievement to date marred by allegations of cheating and the public questioning of your gender? I cannot imagine anything more insulting and potentially damaging for a young woman.  The rumblings and rumors started as South African runner, Caster Semenya started blowing away her competition with regularity. Given the history of cheating and drugs in Olympic sports everyone can understand some scrutiny but questioning someone’s gender and the public disclosure of what was essentially doctor-patient privileged information was absolutely unacceptable. 

The Australia’s Daily Telegraph, citing an unnamed source reported that Semenya was a hermaphrodite. The IAAF has neither confirmed nor denied the report. The IAAF still maintains their stance that they did not release this information but they are still culpable for the mishandling of this situation. The Athletics South Africa President, Leonard Chuene is the only person that has resigned as a result of this issue and a full investigation is underway. Semenya was found innocent of wrong and will retain her gold medal and prize money. How kind of the IAAF after allowing this athlete’s reputation to be dragged through the mud. At a minimum they should triple her prize money and hope she does not seek legal recourse.

I always hear the statement that women need to stick together but I wonder what happened to the women in the that room when all of this was going down?