They did that for good reason.

The SA authorities chose to ignore them. That is why the IAAF insisted on a gender test which was announced before the final.

If the ASA had not acted so stupidly , this would not have happened.

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I really feel for her - she has been hung out to exposure by the incompetents in SA sport, whose credibility - not that of the IAAF has been shattered because this is not a racial issue - it is a gender issue!

QUOTE
“Leonard Chuene, president of Athletics South Africa, has blamed a mysterious figure in the South African media, saying the story had emanated from South Africa. He would not be drawn on the exact source, saying he was bound by “protocol” and did not want to be “sued”……

Attacks were launched on the media by ANCYL leader Malema and ANC stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who suggested the media be more “patriotic” and support Semenya.

“The story emanated from this country. I have evidence on this. Australia is a scapegoat,” said Chuene at the press conference on Semenya’s return. “I think the story got to the IAAF from this country. I stand firm on this: “She’s a girl.”

ASA have come under fire for not foreseeing Semenya’s gender might be questioned, but Chuene, who resigned from IAAF council in protest at
the furore around Semenya, denied this………”
END OF QUOTE

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=79&art_id=iol1251196858395S550

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Mr Wakefield, you are perfectly justified in raising the issue of race. These people would not have DARED do this to an American, Brit or European. Some women - yes, women - look more male than others. This does not make them mutants or freaks of nature.
And they wonder why its hard being black.

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Then there was Billie Jean King a 12 time Grand Slam Winner who was challenged to a match against a male Wimbledon champion, Bobby Riggs. Ms. King won the match amid boos and catcalls of “Dyke’ and other epithets.

Similarly, Martina Navrotilova suffered years of discrimination because of her lesbianism. Her career and her personal life were subjected to minute investigation before the world seemed to ‘get over’ the fixation on her sexuality.

When women develop world-class prowess in any sport which builds muscle, they encounter accusations about their sexual identities. Look at the female body builders whose extreme athleticism often results in the loss of breast tissue and other changes to the shape of the body that make them look more like men than women. Love of sport or body building can lead to significant physiological changes, including a re-balancing of sex hormones affecting ’secondary’ sexual characteristics like facial hair, under arm hair, and loss of fatty breast tissue. That is price some women are willing to pay to be the best at what they do. Their bodies are their business but when their body assumes more masculine than ‘feminine’ proportions there are legitimate questions that need to be answered. such as whether the person in question is using steroids.

The question no one seemed to be asking last week was why Ms. Semenya had not been requested to submit to a physical sex determination examination long before she reached the finals. The question is not about Ms. Semenya’s ’self-image’; it is about her physical characteristics. Separating ‘gender’ from ’sex’ is an exercise in political correctness, not a measure of reality.

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But the local media appear to be only capable of reporting on the politics of the issue: never the science.

Why is that? Do the journalists think their readers are too simple-minded to understand, or does the simple-mindedness rest with the journalists? I hope some third possibility is the correct answer, but I’m cynical about my hopes being realised.

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