Semenya withdraws from race amidst reports she's hermaphrodite

[Z-RO]

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Semenya-withdraws-from-race-amidst-reports-she-s?urn=oly,188930

[Old Tiger]

she? he? I will call it an "it."

[ivchris]

name is SEMENya....so I say "he".

[BullsFan]

I feel sorry for her. If this is a result of a birth defect (and not induced by some kind of steroid type drug), then it's a very unfortunate and humiliating thing to have featured in the news all over the planet. And she is a person, not an "it".

[ivchris]

Originally posted by BullsFan
I feel sorry for her. If this is a result of a birth defect (and not induced by some kind of steroid type drug), then it's a very unfortunate and humiliating thing to have featured in the news all over the planet. And she is a person, not an "it".

embarassing and sad at the same time. I don't see how this has gone on this long without something being said or done until now. I'd think an athlete would have to have a physical exam, and surely, at 18yrs old, some sort of physical characteristics have manifested themselves by now that would tip them off that something isn't right.

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by BullsFan
I feel sorry for her. If this is a result of a birth defect (and not induced by some kind of steroid type drug), then it's a very unfortunate and humiliating thing to have featured in the news all over the planet. And she is a person, not an "it".

I'm not saying I don't feel sorry for her too. I do. We can all be compassionate about her condition.
What few have brought up is that if she is a hermaphrodite, she then has characteristics of both male and female. The male body and female body are very different with different hormones for each sex. If in fact, she has testes then she produces the hormone testosterone(naturally I might add and more effective). I do think that would give her an unfair advantage over her female competitors... testosterone helps to build and maintain muscle, that's the main reason why men on a wide-scale have more muscle than women. I don't mean to put down any woman but this is fact.
Her having tested testosterone levels within an accepted standard doesn't really say anything(the standard is from where?).
The tricky question about all of this is this: Did she or her family know about her condition before she ran? I don't know myself, but some of the answers from her family members seem to be somewhat incredulous...
I have joked about this, as many have,
but that doesn't mean anyone is trying to hurt her personally. Too many questions surround this unique situation imho to truly know what is going on. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt but I think the jokes that have happened because of this are just that... jokes.:)

BullsFan, I am not trying to call you out. I am wondering where you have been! It IS good to see you here! You have been missed for some time!:) :clap: :)

[Ranger Mom]

From what I understood on Good Morning America this morning, she has no womb or ovaries and internal testes. On the "outside" she has what all other women have....except boobs.

[Troybuilt]

The name sez it all.