Uproar continues to cloud the start of the Tokyo Olympics as more Black athletes find themselves disqualified from races. The latest are two Namibian runners, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, who were barred from the 400 meters race due to test results indicating each having naturally high levels of testosterone.
Mboma set a new record for females under the age of 20 when she ran the race in 48.54 seconds on June 30. Her time was the seventh-fastest in women’s 400 meters history and the fastest in the world this year. Masilingi ran the race in 49.53 during a meet in Zambia three months ago. Her time is the third-fastest of the year. The impressive race times prompted the World Athletics body to run medical assessments.
“The results from the testing center indicated that both athletes have a naturally high testosterone level. According to the rule of World Athletics, this means that they are not eligible to participate in events from 400m to 1600m,” said the national Olympic committee in a statement released July 2. Both women also declined to take birth control drugs to lower their testosterone levels.
In order for the two 18-year-old runners to be classified as female, which each self-identify as, they needed to meet the World Athletics classification standards.
- she must be recognised at law either as female or as intersex (or equivalent);
- she must reduce her blood testosterone level to below five (5) nmol/L for a continuous period of at least six months (e.g., by use of hormonal contraceptives); and
- thereafter she must maintain her blood testosterone level below five (5) nmol/L continuously (ie: whether she is in competition or out of competition) for so long as she wishes to remain eligible.
The regulations were introduced in April 2018.
“As the International Federation for our sport we have a responsibility to ensure a level playing field for athletes. Like many other sports we choose to have two classifications for our competition – men’s events and women’s events,” said IAAF President Sebastian Coe in the IAAF regulation statement.
“This means we need to be clear about the competition criteria for these two categories. Our evidence and data show that testosterone, either naturally produced or artificially inserted into the body, provides significant performance advantages in female athletes. The revised rules are not about cheating, no athlete with a DSD [Difference of Sexual Development] has cheated, they are about levelling the playing field to ensure fair and meaningful competition in the sport of athletics where success is determined by talent, dedication and hard work rather than other contributing factors.”
Both women remain eligible to compete in the 100 and 200 meters races, though that does little to mollify social outrage or concerns of the Namibian government.
“The Ministry calls upon Athletics Namibia and the Namibia National Olympics committee to engage both the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics) and International Olympics Committee to seek ways that would not exclude any athlete because of natural conditions that are not of their own making,” said the government in a statement. “The Ministry calls upon governing bodies to level the playing fields that do not exclude Africans from competing at the international stage.”
Online critics, who are still reeling from Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension, have had more than enough with the summer games.
