LAST Thursday, I opined that women who were born biologically male should not be allowed in some competitive sports, particularly in those events where biological males would have an undue advantage over biological females. I argued that this is all about fairness, the same ideal which men who opted to undergo reassignment surgery to become women have pursued even if they faced a society still suffering from endemic and widespread bigotry, prejudice, homophobia and transphobia.
I forwarded the argument that disallowing them to participate in some athletic events is not the kind of discrimination that marginalizes but one that equalizes and would foster equity and fairness.
However, the case of Imane Khelif, that Algerian boxer has added another layer that vexes, if not challenges us, to go beyond the apparent and the convenient. Khelif, a biological woman, was unjustly condemned by people who, in the age of ready accessibility of information, have instantly deployed their homophobia or racism, or both, whether overt or one that they deny even if these are clearly manifested in their words and actions.
Khelif's story is actually a mere repeat of an earlier story told by the experience of one named Caster Semenya, a runner from South Africa. Both Khelif and Semenya are found to have what is called an intersex condition. Both are born biologically female but whose bodies produce testosterone at higher levels than ordinary women. It should be stressed that both women did not undergo any sex reassignment surgery. Khelif comes from Algeria, a country whose official religion is Islam, and where being a homosexual, more so undergoing a sexual reassignment procedure, would not be tolerated, and would even be considered illegal. Both women were born as women, grew up as women and carried official documents that categorized them as women.
While Khelif and Semenya's biology may carry what could be considered as aberrations, those are part of their natural physiological makeups, and not because they have to ingest some hormones or take some drugs, or undergo some surgical procedure.
And yet, responding to the cry of protest against her, the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ruled in 2019 that Semenya can only be allowed to compete if she would take medications to lower her testosterone levels. This happened in an environment in which taking drugs to improve performance is strictly prohibited in all kinds of sports. This is now a precedent that may apply to and determine Khelif's future and eligibility to compete in boxing.
And yet, somewhere in the recent history of sports, another athlete was found to possess an attribute that is not the norm and has placed him at an advantaged position compared to others but was not subjected to the same treatment. Michael Phelps, an American swimmer, was found to have a natural ability to produce just half the lactic acid compared to other athletes. It is a fact that lactic acid is responsible for fatigue, and having the natural ability to produce less of it has provided Phelps the biological and natural gift of having an enormous advantage. No one ran to the CAS to demand that Phelps be injected with lactic acid in the same level as other swimmers would have before he can compete.
There are certain natural advantages that people are born with in sports. Phelps, for example, is born not only with the gift of producing less lactic acid but is also blessed with physical attributes that amplified his ability to swim faster. He has a height of 6 feet and 4 inches; an extraordinary arm span of 6 feet and 7 inches, which is 3 inches longer than his body length; a torso that normally could only be found in men with heights of 6 feet and 8 inches, matched with a lower body that is relatively shorter and would therefore be perfect on reducing drag against water; huge palms that act as flippers that increased his paddling ability; and a set of feet with extremely flexible ankles which functioned like fins.
Fairness is indeed the ideal norm in any competitive sport. This is why rules are in place to ensure fairness and objective, knowledgeable and professional umpires are hired to ensure that these rules are fairly applied. This is also the reason why normally, men and women compete in separate events, except in events where men and women compete together in a team. Boxing is known to employ a system of having separate categories according to the mass body weight of athletes.
The idea of barring trans women from competing in some women's sports is based on the principle that their natural physical and physiological attributes based on their sex when they were born would give them undue advantage over biological women. The cases of Khelif and Semenya are different since biologically they are women. To argue that as biological women, they also possess rare biological traits that give them undue advantage and should disqualify them would beg a larger issue if fairness is indeed the rule.
Fairness then demands that athletes like Michael Phelps should also be barred from competing in swimming. This would then extend to setting a maximum height for sporting events where height would matter, like basketball, or volleyball, or long jump, or pole vault, among others. Or if this is not possible, then we can adopt the system in boxing where athletes compete in categories based on relevant physical attributes.
It is already a practice in local competitions like campus intramurals to disqualify professional athletes. And this is a practice that is even based not on physical attributes, but on their being professionals, and would therefore imply that they have undergone more rigorous training.
There are so many things we can do to ensure fairness in sports. But what we cannot do is to cry foul only when it involves those who are already subjected to societal prejudice and bigotry. We cannot pursue fairness by deploying misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and racism, whether overt or covert. We cannot be fair if we only target people like Khelif and Semenya.
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