We're proud of you, Semenya

2009-09-11 10:45

Athletics is a cruel business. The pressure to be the best, to out-perform previous records, to win at any costs and to be covered in glory for the nation you represent would be hard felt by any person - but it's in the nature of the business for it to fall on the shoulders of the very young and inexperienced.

The leak yesterday by the Australian press that Caster Semenya, our 800m world champion is actually a hermaphrodite is a big blow - not to the nation, not to the sport, but to Caster herself.

At times like this, it's difficult to be a member of the press. It's hypocritical to say what terrible dogs "the media" are, when I am one of them. I would hope that if I were a news hound in an office in Australia who got hold of the information about Caster's ambiguous gender, I would think twice about leaking a sensational story that could ruin someone's life through no fault of their own.

The implications of the leak are far-reaching. Will Caster be stripped of her medals? But that's not the worst worry. I have no first-hand knowledge of Caster, of her family, or of her dreams and aspirations, but finding out that she has both male and female organs is a big blow to a young woman. It immediately casts a shadow over future romantic relationships, ability to bear children, ability to relate to other women and feelings of personal identity.

For a young girl who was clearly physically strong, who turned her athletic build to her advantage and built a career out of it to learn that she could be disqualified for a genetic quirk must be an incredibly harsh blow. But even harsher is the new reality with which she is faced - that is a hermaphrodite and will have to give up competing in a sport she clearly loves, as well as any dreams she has based in her understanding of her own femininity.

Caster has exhibited amazing strength in the face of all of this undignified and messy business. I hope that this is an indication of the fortitude she will continue to show as she has to deal with the fall-out in the coming months.

I don't know if she'll ever read this column, but the sentiment I would like to get across is one that I share with Winnie Mandela - that she knows that we as a nation are still proud of her. And another, on a more personal note, is that she is today as much the woman she felt she was yesterday, and no one can take that away from her.

And I hope that somehow, somewhere, our local and international sporting bodies are looking at how to deal with this not for the best of the sport, but for the best of the very young individual affected by all of this.

- Georgina Guedes is a freelance journalist. She hopes that the person who leaked such sensitive information is ashamed of what they have done.

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