Coe and IAAF fighting an unwinnable battle

As much damage as their new gender regulations are threatening to cause the sport, even more alarming has been the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) insistence on sticking to their guns.

They’re in so deep now that international officials could cause as much harm to the sport’s public image by overturning their decision than they would by ploughing ahead.

No matter what happens in the case brought against them by Caster Semenya and Athletics South Africa (ASA), the IAAF has boxed itself into a corner, and it seems the only way out is down.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what triggered the global body’s harsh reaction to hyperandrogenic athletes, but based on their timing and some of the decisions they have made, it seems certain that Semenya has been a central figure in their agenda.

The Semenya conundrum started with a media leak in 2009, and the debate that ensued around gender in sport was so ex- plosive and robust, it continues to this day.

Still a teenager back then, Semenya was initially as complacent as her predecessors had been, and when the IAAF insisted she lower her testosterone levels to abide by their rules, she complied.

Unfortunately for the athletics body, while they had used this strategy to eliminate hyperandrogenic athletes from the international circuit in the past, this time it didn’t work.

Unlike those who had vanished into obscurity after being forced to take medication or undergo surgery, when Semenya returned to the track she remained competitive at the highest level.

Though her times slowed and she was not as dominant, her performances were nonetheless impressive and she continued to rake in medals at major championships.

And after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended the IAAF’s gender rule restricting hyperandrogenic athletes, Semenya rocketed back into form.

In an apparent attempt to resolve

Wesley Bo on

the “problem” without having to deal with a resilient Semenya, however, the IAAF adjusted its rules in order to clear the path for Indian sprinter Dutee Chand to compete in her specialist events.

By enforcing their gender restrictions only on middle-distance athletes, they were able to deal with Chand’s case at CAS while complying with dissenting voices from Europe and the United States by forcing Semenya to reduce her testosterone levels once again.

Despite the outcry from the African continent, with the IAAF accused of sexism and racism, the governing body dug its heels into the ground, apparently more concerned about upsetting athletics giants in Europe and the United States who fund the sport at glob- al level.

The concept that Semenya does not fit traditional western ideals of femininity is at the core of the issue, and while the IAAF has brushed aside the criticism they have received, the battle against them gained significant weight this week.

Though it might be easy enough to ignore a continent which does not offer a great deal in terms of financial resources for the sport – despite the value Africa offers in terms of athletic performances – it’s not as simple to sweep aside scathing criticism from the United Nations.

Regardless of how one might feel about gender issues in sport, and what constitutes fair play, when the implementation of new rules infringes on people’s human rights, we need to have an entirely different discussion.

According to sub-committees and working groups attached to the UN, the IAAF’s new regulations would infringe on the rights of athletes, and if that’s the case, we’re no longer talking about fairness in sport. We’re discussing something far deeper.

While IAAF president Sebastian Coe has been far more diplomatic in his recent approach to the subject than he was a couple of years ago, the umbrella body seemingly remains determined to block specific athletes from competing.

And whatever reasons they may have for insisting on pursuing the matter, the imminent case brought by Semenya and ASA has placed them in a jam.

Should they back out, questions will be raised about their long-running claims regarding fairness in sport, and if they continue by implementing new gender rules in November, they face the danger of being painted as a racist, sexist organisation with little respect for humanity.

Whichever way they go – even if they win their case – it seems that Coe and the IAAF is on a hiding to nothing, and as stubborn as they have been, perhaps the best they can do now for the image of the sport is to implement some form of damage control before it’s too late.