Why is it common for top female athletes like Babe Didrikson to be accused of being male?”
As the World Track and Field Championships continue today in Berlin, Germany, the main topic of conversation isn’t about who is the fastest runner. Instead the media and spectators are buzzing over whether or not one of the top female competitors is actually a man. The athlete in question is Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old runner from South Africa. She is the favorite to win today’s 800m race. Semenya has captured the track world’s attention by rapidly lowering her time in the 800 meters. She enters the race with the fastest qualifying time. Media from Australia and Great Britain have been fanning the flames of accusation by running numerous stories about Semenya’s gender. Semenya and the South African contingent have denied rumors that she was born a male. “She is a female,” said Molatelo Malehopo of Athletics South Africa. “We are completely sure about that and we wouldn’t have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts.” Nevertheless, the rumors have been so persist
It’s human nature to look for a reason when someone comes out of nowhere and seems to dominate a sport. Babe Didrikson was just one of many challenged about her sex. Didrikson excelled in several sports, too, making it all the harder for many to come to grips with the fact that a “mere” female might be this good and this dominate in a sport. Competitors, long used to making excuses for loses probably contributed, using the rumors as a means of raising themselves at her expense. More recently, Jackie Robinson was accused and very recently a young runner has been facing the same charge, the need to prove her sex after some very convincing times and wins. It’s human nature, I guess, to look for an edge, even if only to explain why someone might be so good and so fast.
