Sports Biblio Digest, 5.5.19: Caster Semenya and the Boundaries of Women’s Sports
News, Views and Reviews About Sports Books, History and Culture
Also In This Issue: A Bizarre DQ at Churchill Downs; Baseball’s Contentious Labor History; Ranking America’s Ballparks; Cincinnati Reds Sesquicentennial; Ayrton Senna; Borussia Dortmund; Football Leaks; Remembering Bill Fleischman and Joe Healey
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled this week against Caster Semenya, the reigning 800-meter women’s Olympic track champion, who sought to overturn International Association of Athletics Federations provisions about reducing testosterone levels.
There have been plenty of heated cries in the media that the ruling is unfair, and it is true that she has been subjected to some regrettable actions, including from those working on her behalf, for the last decade, since her rare biological status was revealed.
What was missing from much of the media coverage (some of it very loathsome) was the fact that she’s got XY (male) chromosomes, and the IAAF’s policy applies only to those athletes with DSD (developmental sex disorder) with the XY set, not the XX (female) pairings. I’ve got misgivings about the ruling along ethical lines because of the requirement to use drugs to reach the accepted testosterone levels.
The day after the ruling, Semenya blew away the field in Doha, her 30th consecutive win in the 800 meters, in what may be her last race at that distance. She said she won’t be undergoing treatment, and may train for the 5,000 meters, which isn’t included in the new IAAF policy.
I deeply admire her grace and generosity under such a harsh, unrelenting spotlight for so long, and understand the emotions of her supporters, especially those proud of her African heritage. She’s become an unwitting symbol of what’s been an often-ugly debate for years, and I fear the CAS ruling will resolve few of those differences. In fact, they may have taken a new, more polarizing turn.
I do think there need to be some clear lines drawn to protect the integrity of women’s sports, but testosterone levels shouldn’t be the only marker. There are some suggestions that athletes who have undergone male puberty should not be allowed to compete as females, and it’s a point that figures to be repeated as transgender claims in sports continue. That’s where I would draw the line, but this is a complicated matter, and there’s so much to learn.
Biology was never my best subject, but I’m blown away by the science denialism at work from supposedly super-smart people who assert such things about the “myth of testosterone” and who claim to be supporters of women’s sports.
Much like a previous newsletter leader I wrote recently about Martina Navratilova, I’m aghast that women’s sports organizations have either muted their reaction, or in the case of the Women’s Sports Foundation in the U.S., teamed up with a gay athletes organization to denounce the Semenya ruling (the same group that bounced Martina from its advisory board for her transgender comments).
What about the considerations of other female athletes, like former British Olympians Paula Radcliffe and Sharron Davies, who’ve been vocal in favor of the IAAF position and insist, along with Martina, that sports continue to be segregated by sex, and not gender identity?
I wish the WSF and other women’s sports organizations would foster some open and honest dialogue, given the range of opinions, but they seem more interested in virtue-signaling. The silence from those who’ve worked long and hard on Title IX issues in America, and for improved opportunities for girls and women in sports around the world, is stunning and disappointing.
Here’s a lengthy disquisition on the Semenya ruling by Ross Tucker, a respected sports science from South Africa who testified on behalf of her before the CAS; and another long reflection on the case by Doriane Lambelet Coleman, an American collegiate 800-meter champion and now a Duke law professor, and who was a witness for the IAAF.
These are two deeply learned, if differing conclusions that could be used to spark a conversation about how to define who’s a female, for the purposes of athletic competition. Women’s sports at this phase deserves no less.
A Few Good Reads
At The Ringer, a good read from Ben Lindbergh about one of my favorite baseball books, “Lords of the Realm,” which was published 25 years ago this year. John Helyar’s history of the game’s labor issues foreshadowed the 1995 strike that cancelled the World Series, and Lindbergh finds parallels to the current state of the baseball business;
For the first time in its 145-year history, the winning horse at the Kentucky was disqualified after the race Saturday. Churchill Downs stewards ruled that Maximum Security obstructed the path of other horses on the final turn on the muddy turf. Country House, a 65-1 bet, was declared the winner, a champion with the second-longest odds in the race’s history. Tim Layden masterfully lays out the bizarre aftermath for Sports Illustrated;
Another 25th anniversary in sports is being noted this week, specifically May 1, 1994, the day of Formula One racing legend Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, the third death on the track in as many days. Maurice Hamilton remembers the Brazilian driver, whose death sparked a number of safety measures; at ESPN.com; more about Senna from Jalopnik, BBC Sport and The Guardian;
Also from The Guardian, how the Football Leaks case became a big scandal in Portugal, where Rui Pinto was extradited from Hungary and faces charges of cyber criminality in connection with the release of information pertaining to alleged corruption at the highest levels of global soccer;
The Bundesliga race was surprisingly close as it draws to a close, with dynastic Bayern Munich holding off Borussia Dortmund by two points in its bid for seven consecutive titles. After a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen on Saturday, Dortmund’s hopes have just about slipped away. The club will soon bid farewell to American wunderkind Christian Pulisic, who’s heading to Chelsea, but has made a remarkable return to prominence after financial mismanagement and other setbacks. These Football Times devotes a special issue to Germany’s so-called “second club,” that’s come so tantalizingly close to getting back on top;
The latest Major League Baseball stadium rankings have been unveiled, with all the usual venerable suspects nestled near the top;
From Mental Floss, the history of Big League Chew, the bubblegum brand partly owned by ex-big league pitcher and autor Jim Bouton and whose sales are holding steady despite MLB not having any formal partnership;
Another April has passed, which means Tom Hoffarth has put the finishing touches on his annual 30 baseball book reviews in 30 days series, with the finale a treatise on baseball and philosophy;
This weekend the Cincinnati Reds are marking their 150th anniversary as Major League Baseball’s first professional team, and that original 1896 team will be getting a tribute monument at the Great American Ball Park; The festivities call for the current club to wear throwback uniforms; more on the 1869 club by John Erardi, the co-author of a new book about them, and he does a podcast here;
The new president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. is Tim Mead, longtime executive with the Los Angeles Angels and currently the VP of communications.
Passings
Bill Fleischman, 80, wrote about a wide variety of sports for The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote several books, mostly about NASCAR, and was best-known for his coverage of the Flyers during their Stanley Cup years in the early 1970s. He later taught journalism at the University of Delaware. Sports book author Jeff Pearlman, who graduated from the school, recalls that his former instructor “wasn’t even close to larger than life,” but exuded “Kindness. Empathy. Understanding. Decency;”
Joe Healey, 77, wanted to be a contemporary Toots Shor when he opened up Runyon’s, a New York tavern that became, in the words of sports columnist Mike Lupica, a “frat house for sports people.” Healey opened a second Runyon’s, and after the first one closed, the other shuttered for good in 1996.
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The Sports Biblio Digest is an e-mail newsletter delivered each Sunday. You can subscribe here and search the archives.
This is Digest issue No. 165, published May 5, 2019.
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