Should top athlete Caster Semenya have to take testosterone-lowering drugs?

WHAT hypocrisy from the IAAF, the governing body of athletics, to demand that South African 800-metre runner Caster Semenya take drugs to reduce the amount of testosterone in her body that nature provided for her at birth (Mail). They sanctimoniously ban athletes found to have taken drugs to enhance their performances during competition.

KEN HOBBINS, Birmingham.

THE transgender and feminist lobbies may be shouting foul about the decision about female athletes with high testosterone, but the decision may just have saved female sport from oblivion. The reason why women compete in separate events to men in physically demanding sports is that the higher testosterone levels in males leads to greater muscle strength and, therefore, would give them an unfair advantage. This is clearly also true for female or intersex athletes with male levels of testosterone. If they were allowed to continue to take part in female events without lowering their

testosterone levels, the distinction between the two events would become increasingly blurred, leading ultimately to open events for anyone to take part in, whatever their gender. I feel very sorry for Caster Semenya, but it has been obvious for many years that she has had an unfair advantage over other female middle-distance athletes. It’s important that all female athletes compete on a level playing field once again.

S. CLEGG, Beaconsfield, Bucks.

THE world of athletics must be breathing a sigh of relief following the Caster Semenya ruling to restrict the level of testosterone in female runners, but I expect the South African athlete will continue to win big races. Her record over the past ten years has been outstanding. Testosterone apart, she may possess that magical quality absent in many competitors — the overpowering will to dominate a race and succeed. The controversial decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold rules that suppress testosterone in competitors may prove extremely difficult to put into practice. GEORDIE CAMPBELL, Bognor Regis, W. Sussex.

IF A man has higher natural testosterone levels than his fellow male competitors in a race, should he have to take drugs to reduce it? Is this latest ruling just an excuse to stop Caster Semenya winning? She should be allowed to compete as she is. RONALD BALL, Farnborough, Hants.

CASTER SEMENYA is clearly a gifted athlete, so why can she not compete against men, thereby removing the necessity of taking drugs to lower her testosterone levels? In showjumping and eventing, men and women compete against each other, so what is the problem? SHIRLEY HARRIES, Angmering, W. Sussex.