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ON AN EQUAL FOOTING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2019

Jasper Doomen
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Abstract

Athlete Caster Semenya's successes have, in conjunction with her appearance, led to an inquiry. She appeared to have high levels of testosterone; it was decided that she had to reduce them if she wanted to race against other women. I argue that the recognition of the difference between Caster Semenya and her competitors should not result in this outcome: similar differences exist (in all sports), which are accepted as such. It would be inconsistent to focus on this advantage if one disregards others, while the alternative to realize an outcome in which all differences are removed would yield absurd results.

Type
Research Article
Information
Think , Volume 18 , Issue 53 , Autumn 2019 , pp. 43 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 2019 

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References

Notes

1 CAS 2014/A/3759: Dutee Chand v. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) & International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), 24 July 2015. The CAS observed in that case:

According to the evidence reported by the IAAF, the competitive advantage that men have over women is approximately in the range of 10 to 12% while that the one enjoyed by hyperandrogenic athletes over other women would be between 1 and 3%. This advantage is not sufficient to justify a separation in the category of female athletes since many other factors such as nutrition, coaching, other genetic and biological variations have an impact on athletic performance.

2 This decision was appealed before the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which has yet to rule on the issue; it has temporarily suspended the IAAF rule in question.

3 The Court of Arbitration for Sport itself refers, in that respect, to the view of the International Association of Athletics Federations, remarking that: ‘There is no dispute that there should be a separate classification for female athletes – a binary divide between male and female.’

4 I use this phrasing as it is not justified to say that there are no side-effects altogether.

5 It is not necessary to discuss the issue here whether a significant distinction may be made between an athlete's biological factors and the factor or factors on the basis of which an athlete decides to participate and finds the stamina and discipline to compete. Whether the latter may be reduced to the former is irrelevant for the present discussion.