Earlier this month, Namibia removed two of the world’s top female 400-meter runners from its Olympic roster at that distance after medical tests revealed they had natural testosterone levels above the allowable threshold. The runners, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, both 18, are instead focusing on the 200 meters, a race for which the restrictions do not apply.
Coe, however, has been undeterred. He said he has an obligation to the largest number of athletes in his sport to keep the playing field level, even if that made him an enemy among a segment of those he is also supposed to represent. Organizations who support a broader view of inclusion like Athlete Ally have accused World Athletics of violating competitors’ human rights.
“Whose human rights are we defending here?” he said. “You do what you need to do for the majority in your sport. That is not to disparage the minority condition.”
Of course, the playing field in international sports is never truly level, even in running, which is arguably the most accessible form of athletic competition. Distance runners born and raised in the African highlands have the advantage of living at high altitude, which gives them more oxygen-carrying red blood cells than those who train at sea level. Athletes born in wealthy countries have far greater access to better facilities, nutrition, medical care and coaching.
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And yet, for Coe and others who share his view, certain advantages are a bridge too far, advantages that would upset the design of competitions that test how fast human legs can move across the ground and separate men and women, or, more precisely, people with testes and people without them.
“When you ask, ‘Is this field still level?’ what you are asking is whether someone has thrown something into this mix that is fundamentally different and empowering,” said Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a Duke law professor and former elite runner who served as an expert witness in the Semenya case. “When you throw testes into the mix or certain mechanical legs, it is altering the design.”