When it comes to the Olympics, there is a multitude of requirements and restrictions that athletes need to abide by, whether that is pertaining to physiological factors or ethical factors. Olympic athletes must abide by anti-doping rules, in which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) emphasized the importance of the fight against doping sports and support for the World Anti-Doping Code (International Olympic Committee, 2019). However, with the recent case of Caster Semenya earlier this year, it highlights a controversial topic in the Olympic community.
Semenya is a two-time Olympic champion track athlete from South Africa and despite her achievements, her biology has been under scrutiny for over a decade, after she won in 2009 (Longman & Macur, 2019). Semenya has a rare biological trait that causes naturally elevated levels of testosterone, giving her a "natural advantage" in competitions. The elevated testosterone promotes athletic performances through both long-term anabolic actions and rapid effects on behavior (Wood & Stanton, 2019). Testosterone has also been proven to stimulate muscle mass and reduce body fat while increasing aggression and motivation for competition (Wood & Stanton, 2019). There are also studies that prove how cardiovascular exercise -- track for example -- and resistance training transiently increase testosterone concentrations (Wood & Stanton, 2019).
Due to Semenya's "advantage", the IOC came to the consensus that Semenya be barred from competing due to her elevated testosterone levels. This led to the ruling by the highest court in international sports, that female athletes with naturally elevated levels of testosterone must decrease the hormone in order to participate in certain races at major competitions (Longman & Macur, 2019).
The ruling is controversial in the athletic community, due to the fact that Micheal Phelps, a 28-time Olympic medalist, also has a "natural advantage;" however, he wasn't barred for from any competitions. Phelps produces approximately 50% less than normal levels of lactic acid (Hesse, 2019). Lactic acid accumulation causes a decline in muscle force or power output, leading to impaired exercise performance (Cairns, 2006). Lactic acid accumulation has also been proven to have a close temporal relationship with fatigue stimulation (Cairns, 2006).
When comparing Semenya's case to Phelps', it highlights a controversial and ethical topic of natural advantages and how they should be regulated as it branches into the biomedical ethical value of justice. With the opposing outcome of each case, it demonstrates that the treatment between athletes is not equal and conflicts with fairness and rights to compete.
Do you think this ruling from the IOC was the correct choice or is there an inequality between males and females in sporting competitions?
References
Cairns, S. P. (2006). Lactic acid and exercise performance : culprit or friend? Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16573355.
Hesse, M. (2019, May 3). Perspective | We celebrated Michael Phelps's genetic differences. Why punish Caster Semenya for hers? Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/we-celebrated-michael-phelpss-genetic-differences-why-punish-caster-semenya-for-hers/2019/05/02/93d08c8c-6c2b-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html.
International Olympic Committee. (2019, November 19). Support and protect clean athletes. Retrieved from https://www.olympic.org/fight-against-doping.
Longman, J., & Macur, J. (2019, May 1). Caster Semenya Loses Case to Compete as a Woman in All Races. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/sports/caster-semenya-loses.html.
Wood, R. I., & Stanton, S. J. (2012). Testosterone and sport: current perspectives. Hormones and behavior, 61(1), 147–155. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.09.010
I hadn’t heard their ruling yet, thanks for sharing. I think this is really interesting and leads to a slippery slope. Michael Phelps is also atypical in that he has a wildly disproportionate body compared to other people, even other swimmers. There are several things that are atypical about him including a wingspan of a man a few inches taller and leg length of a man several inches shorter, along with hyperextendable ankles. Any one of these other natural phenomena could be picked out in the future as a disqualifying feature if we wanted to be consistent about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://sites.nd.edu/biomechanics-in-the-wild/author/mskinne4/