Intersex in the Races!

It’s natural to have questions about things that are different from what you know. Naturally, our team had questions about intersex athletes and their running.
I contacted Mary Ann Schauerhamer, who founded Utah Running Club just over a year ago. With this program being in its infancies, my questions were quite a surprise to her. She was very chatty when I asked her about the program itself. She said she wanted to start a program that was available year round and that is affordable for people who just want to run. You don’t have to be the best and you can win a small cash price! The racers trek Provo Canyon, the same route, a low-key race, and for a third of the price, even in the winter!
Utah Running Club doesn’t require a gender test. They don’t have a lot of requirements for anyone. Males and females run together, with the females getting a three minute head start. As far as Mary Ann knows, she hasn’t yet had anyone intersex in the races. If she did, I’m sure she’d be just as pleasant with them as she was with me.

--China

The Most Recent News Regarding Caster

The most recent news regarding the controversy of Caster Semenya still goes on. The International Association of Athletics Federation has not come to a conclusion whether to strip Semenya of her medal, or to allow her to compete in future races. As of November 20th, there have been numerous meetings to make a deal regarding Semenya’s earnings from the August race and gold medal title.

A big dilemma they Federation ran into was prior to the race. Semenya had a gender test, but the South Africa Federation President, Leonard Chuene lied about his knowledge that she has a test. The Federation is now investigating whether or not this would have affected her entering the race if they had known this information. Chuene has since been suspended from the Federation.

The Association as a whole is now looking over the rules and procedures, and analyzing whether this is an ethical, legal, or medical issue that needs to be dealt with. The most prominent answer from the board is that all three issues are related. Since this hasn’t been a problem in the past, they are reviewing whether the rules need to be modified on order to adapt to the upcoming dilemmas in regards to gender amongst male and females. It is reported that the rules could change depending on the ruling of Caster Semenya’s case.

--Lexi Burchmore

A case in India, Similiar to Semenya's

Indian Runner Santhi Soundarajan can empathize with what Caster Semenya is going through. Soundarajan was questioned about her gender in the 2006 Asian Games after finishing in second place in the women's 800 meter race. She was forced to return her silver medal and was forced to drop out of competing in athletics after she failed a gender test in Doha, Quatar. 

After getting rejected from competing in Sport, Soundarajan mentions that it was hard for her to find a job, partially because she was from a poor family and also because she was looked at like a cheat. She mentioned that if she got her medal back be a dream come true. The Athletics Federation of India has said that they might consider asking for its return from the Olympic Council of Asia. 

She told the Associated Press on Saturday in an interview, "I pray that Semenya does not go through what I've been through, it almost drove me to committing suicide." Soundarajan has been coaching poor children for the past two years and has been strongly uplifted from that.

--Brooke Broderick

Top of Utah

There are so many different competitive races in Utah. We decided to seek some of them out and ask them what their experiences are with intersex athletes. I contacted the Top of Utah Marathon. This marathon is conducted along the Wasatch Mountains of Cache Valley. This is a big marathon with a lot of competitors each year.

I talked to their Assistant Directors, Todd, who is one of the originators of this marathon. This summer will be the 12th anniversary of this event. He indicated that he has never been required to perform a gender test on any of the participants, but they do classify their events male/female. Everyone is then expected to put themselves into which category that they fit. With that being said, they “trust that everyone who participates is honest enough that there would not be any cheating” involved in their decision.
In 12 years there has been only once instance where they have had an intersex person wanting to compete. This person was upfront about this and told them their circumstance. The directors instructed this person to compete in whichever event they felt fit them best and what they classify themselves as in their daily lives.
If the Top of Utah event could bring in more money and more intersex participants, Todd said they would create events that would better classify these people.

--Morgan

What do you think?

Before

After

--Morgan