Runner left in no-man's land

[Natasha]

Runner left in no-man's land

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/paul-lewis-on-sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502855&objectid=10684163
10/31/10

Sport can be cruel. Ask Caster Semenya.

She is the masculine-looking, then-18-year-old woman who won the 800m world championships in Berlin last year with a display of power running that carried her two seconds clear of the field - and ignited controversy when it was revealed she was undergoing gender tests.

She is a world champion with no sponsors. She has been cleared by the IAAF, track and field's world body, but the court of public opinion continues to find her guilty. Corporate sponsors look the other way. They want pretties with womanly curves and no hint of a gender question.

[lilacwoman]

what other sports are there where a competitor who is obviously taller and more powerful than all the others in the match/game/race? 
Cassius Clay versus Sonny Liston springs to mind?
Short of introducing horse racing style handicapping based on the height in hands its hard to know how to deal with the problem of Caster.

[juliekins]

We live in such a binary gender world. Either male or "pure" female. Nature is not that simple, and won't be put into a box.

I'm a golf fan, and recently saw that the LPGA is refusing a transwoman the right to compete to enter the league. They talk about the physical advantage that T women may have, but I think it's more about running a business and eliminatin the "ewww" factor for a lot of ignorant sports fans and corporate sponsors.