The best athletes are not like the rest of us

What a pickle the athletics world has got itself into over the case of South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya, who has elevated levels of testosterone.

After a decade of storming victories in 800 metre races, including the last Olympics final, the IAAF, the governing body of international athletics, defined athletes like her as having “a difference of sexual development (DSD)” and in 2018 introduced regulations forcing such athletes to reduce their testosterone levels if they wished to compete in certain events.

Unsurprisingly, Semenya challenged this and brought her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), international sport’s highest court.

She lost, with the court ruling that such athletes could be banned unless they took medication to reduce their testosterone levels.

Semenya is hyperandrogenic, meaning she has a much higher level of testosterone than most women.

Most people accept the case for separate male and female categories in sporting events in which physical prowess matters. But should women with naturally elevated levels of testosterone be able to compete in women’s events?

Absolutely they should. Elite sport is an uneven playing field. Always has been.

The best athletes are not like the rest of us.

Did Carl Lewis have a physical advantage over his contemporaries? Of course he did.

Did Usain Bolt have a physical advantage? You betcha.

What must not happen is Semenya being forced to take testosterone-reducing drugs.

How can it be just for one athlete to have to take drugs to reduce her natural advantage but others, who try to get an edge by taking other drugs, are banned. It all seems a little confused to me. Or, put simply, bonkers.