Olympic Lady Athletes Will Be Tested For Lady-ness
Remember 19 year-old South African sprinter Caster Semenya? She's the Lady Ga Ga of sprinting: Her lady-ness is questionable! Now, the International Olympic Committee has ruled to establish "gender-test" centers to make sure female athletes aren't actually dudes in dresses.
The decision comes after a two-day conference on the topic of sex-verification. The medical specialists gathered decided that, in light of the super-complicated Semenya case, it was time to advance IOC sex-verification testing past merely checking to see if athletes have the proper dangly bits when they pee in a cup for drug testing. According to the AP:
Among the key conclusions was a proposal to set up health centers where experts would diagnose and treat athletes with what are known as "disorders of sex development." Most cases, Ljungqvist said, require treatment such as surgery or hormone therapy.
Not all athletes will be tested—it will be determined on a case-by-case basis. (Only on athletes who score 6 or greater on the Raster-Klinefelter Butchness scale?) Meanwhile, Caster Semenya has been banned by the South African Olympic committee for being too manly.