While I feel very sorry for Caster Semenya, I can't help feeling much worse for her female competitors. It's a difficult uphill battle for these ladies. If you don't believe there a huge difference, then take a long look at the video from Semenya's last 800M race.

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Caster Semenya's dominant 800 metres victory in Berlin unleashes gender storm

Caster Semenya continued her comeback with an extraordinary 800 metres victory over a top-class field at the World Challenge meet on Sunday, but a backlash is taking root among her beaten opponents. One complained that they were "literally running against a man".

 

By Simon Hart in Berlin
Published: 10:17PM BST 22 Aug 2010

Triumphant: Caster Semenya was barely out of breath as she romped to victory in the 800 metres Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The South African teenager, who won the world 800m title in the same Berlin stadium a year ago before being ordered to undergo gender verification tests, was competing in only her third race since she was cleared to resume her running career in women's competition following an 11-month absence.

But there is no sign that her long lay-off, nor the reported hormone treatment that she has been receiving as a condition of her return, have diminished her powers in any way.

Trailing American Christin Wurth-Thomas by some 20 metres with just 100 metres remaining, Semenya breezed past effortlessly to win with several strides to spare in a world-class time of 1min 59.90sec.

Given that she has only been training seriously for a month and has, by her own admission, done no speed work whatsoever, it is highly possible that by the time she competes in the Commonwealth Games in October, she could be back to the form of a year ago when she ran away from the field in Berlin to win in a world-leading 1-55.45sec.

Her return to the scene of her triumph was greeted by the loudest cheer of the day at Sunday's ISTAF meeting when she was introduced to the crowd before her race, but not everyone is happy about her return.

Despite their sympathy for her on a human level, several athletes spoke of their frustration that their own rights had been brushed aside by the decision of the International Association of Athletics Federations to allow the 19 year-old to return so early.

"It's obviously a human rights issue but human rights affect everyone in the race, not just one person," said Britain's Jemma Simpson, who finished fourth in 2min 0.57sec. "The rest of the field just gets ignored."

She added: "No way is it a personal issue but it's a debate about what is right and fair for everyone. It's a really tough subject and a lot of people are very careful about what they say. You have to be.

"You have to be diplomatic and keep your opinions to yourself but sometimes it is so frustrating."

Canada's Diane Cummins, who was eighth in Sunday's race, was not so diplomatic, suggesting the authorities needed to think again about where they set the level of testosterone that qualifies athletes to compete in female races.

"As athletes we feel frustrated because everyone is allowed to give their opinion except us," said Cummins. "If we give an honest opinion, we're either seen as bad sports or we're not happy because we're being beaten.

"But that's not the case. Jemma and I have been beaten tons of times by athletes who we feel are doing it in the realm of what is considered female.

"Unfortunately for Caster, she's grown up in an environment that is complicated not just for her but for human science. Basically, is she man, is she lady? What constitutes male, what constitutes female?"

She added: "Even if she is a female, she's on the very fringe of the normal athlete female biological composition from what I understand of hormone testing. So, from that perspective, most of us just feel that we are literally running against a man."

Neither Cummins nor Simpson are in any doubt that once Semenya returns to full fitness the rest of the world will be running for second place.

"It is certainly frustrating to be running against someone who seems to be doing it effortlessly," said Cummins. "We all believe that Caster Semenya, pushed to her full potential, could break the world record.

"That's 1-53, and that's what college guys are running. From that perspective, she's far superior to any female 800 metres runner we've ever had."

She added: "It's complicated, but we're the ones who are working hard to make a living at what we're doing and when anybody else makes it look easy, its not as if you resent her but its frustrating for the athletes."

Simpson said many of the other runners were similarly frustrated by the situation but the subject was too sensitive to air their views in the media.

Italy's Elisa Cusma Piccione, who finished third on Sunday, refused to elaborate on the remarks she made after last year's final when she said: "For me, she is a man."

Simpson said: "Publicly, everyone's happy. Non-publicly, people have their own personal issues with it. You're not going to say in the media what you feel deep down."

But Cummins, emboldened perhaps by the fact the she is coming to the end of her career at the age of 36, predicted Semenya would be more dominant in her event that Usain Bolt in the sprints.

"There are guys who can challenge Usain Bolt but nobody can challenge Caster Semenya," she said. "She is four or five seconds better than any of us and that's incredible.
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