I know, I should have written DSD, which stands for Differences in Sexual Development, but as I would never call a disabled person "differently abled" I prefer the use of an explicit term rather than some obscure acronym. Be that as it may, since DSD is the official term now I will, reluctantly, use it in what follows.
Everything started with the appearance of a young and gifted 800 runner from South Africa: Caster Semenya. Her rise was meteoric. She went from 2:04.23 in 2008 to 1:55.45 in 2009 winning the world title in Berlin. But the problem was that Semenya was looking like a man and had a man's voice and gestures. Now, let us be fair: Semenya is not a man anatomically (for those who cannot parse this sentence, this means that she does not have a penis) and so she could be considered as a woman. It's been quite some time that sex verification is not mandatory for the participation in women's category. But the World Athletics has a discretionary power of investigation and, while they found that Semenya had indeed an elevated level of testosterone (word has it that Semenya has internal testes), they allowed her to participate in competitions. And Semenya accumulated two Olympic victories, three World champion titles, to say nothing of Continental, Commonwealth titles as well as a load of Diamond League victories. The outcry was such that World Athletics had to do something. They started by introducing a regulation which stipulated that, in order to be able to participate in women's events all participants had to comply with the upper limit of testosterone concentration of 10 nmol/L. Semenya could not do otherwise and after a female hormone treatment which brought down her testosterone to acceptable levels, her best performance in 2014 was 2:02.66. Alas the rule was challenged by the indian sprinter D. Chand at the at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which abolished the rule and ordered World Athletics to produce scientific evidence in support of a future hyperandrogenism regulation.
I give all the details of the hyperandrogenism saga in my article on DSD. And a year later I wrote an article entitled "Is this the end of the Semenya scandal?" hoping that the hyperandrogenism plague would stop there. However towards the end of the article I pointed out that, given that the rule was over cautious, applicable only to middle distances, from 400 m to the mile, hyperandrogenic athletes would soon adapt themselves. I was even prophesying that while Semenya, being rather heavily built, would be unable to move to the 5000 m (in fact, she did try but could not make the minima) a lighter athlete like Niyonsaba could easily adapt herself to the longer distances. And she did! She presented herself to the 5000 m race in Tokyo where she was disqualified in the heats (for stepping out of the track) and then she participated in the 10000 m. She finished 5th despite being rather inexperienced in that distance. Unless the DSD are extended to apply to longer distances do not be surprised if she is a medal contender at the next Olympics: she will be just 31 in 2024.
Last December I saw a video of a young, 17 years old, namibian athlete, Beatrice Masilingi, who ran the 400 m in an impressive 50.42 s. And a few days later a second 17-years old, Christine Mboma, ran the 400 m in 51.57 s. Those were impressive results. But they became more so when on the road to the Olympics Masilingi ran in 49.53 and Mboma first 49.22 followed by 48.54 s, a world leading performance. And then the shocking news arrived. Both Mboma and Masilingi are hyperandrogenic and could not participate in the 400 m in Tokyo. But a good 400 m runner is usually good in 200 m too. And so the two namibians entered the 200, reached the final with Masilingi finishing 6th with 22.28 and Mboma clinching the silver medal in an out-of-this-world finish and an incredible 21.81 s.
So now World Athletics has the proof that a testosterone excess can lead to extraordinary performances in distances outside the 400-1500 range. And given that in their initial study they remarked a tendency towards hyperandrogenism in pole vault and hammer throw, one can easily conclude that with a careful selection we may have hyperandrogenic women dominating all events. This is not how Lord Sebastian sees the situation. He claims that "Mboma’s Tokyo 200m silver shows testosterone rules are working". Could anyone explain this to me? I think that he could not admit publicly that the rules were not working and he opted for a politicians answer. In fact, when asked whether Mboma could break the world record, he replied that he thought it was possible and added that "this probably would then give the governing body more questions to contend with where the rules are concerned".
Well, if you ask me where the rules should be applied, the answer is simple: they should apply to all athletics. No exception. Hyperandrogenic women should follow a hormone treatment and bring their testosterone blood concentration below 5 nmol/L. And even so, they would have an advantage having profited from the anabolic, muscle-building, effect of testosterone during all their life. But extending the rules so that they cover, say, the 200 m would be a most counterproductive decision. In fact, it would offer a perfect argument to Semenya's fans, who will claim (quite understandably) that the previous rules were targeted at Semenya.
I cannot resist at this point to mention the unfair treatment of Kabange Mupopo, a zambian 400 m runner. She was African champion in 2016, with 50.87. She reached the semis in the 2015 Worlds and the 2016 Olympics and ran in the final in the 2017 World's finishing 7th. And then it was announced that Mupopo was sanctioned for doping, the test having detected an excess of testosterone. She was banned for four years (roughly till the end of 2021) and has lost both the 2019 World's and the 2021 Olympics. Now, when Mupopo appeared on the international circuit her boyish looks made people wonder whether she was another hyperandrogenic case. And, in fact, the argument of the Zambian federation was that Mupopo was a DSD case which would explain the elevated testosterone concentration. The president of the Zambia federation in an interview pointed out that “from the medical results that we got from University Teaching Hospital, it was as a result of hormone imbalance”. Mupopo's coach believes that she was unfairly treated because "she never took any foreign substances but was banned based on what already existed in her body". The Athletics Integrity Unit rejected the claims. Zambia does not carry the same weight as South Africa and so their claims could be brushed away. Moreover that was in 2017 when World Athletics was still under the delusion that Semenya's was an isolated case. By now they have awakened (at least I hope so) to the realisation that we should prepare for a deluge of hyperandrogenic women who will wreak havoc on women's athletics.
(And do not get me started on transgender athletes).
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