Dear Editor,
Is it racism, gender discrimination, disrespect or good old ‘eyepass’ (as we would say in Guyana), that the world governing body of athletics can even entertain the thought of testing the South African female 800m world champion Caster Semenya to verify her gender? I have never before heard such an absurdity. What on earth could justify such curiosity? It must be something more than her boyish looks that is causing this deep interest in her gender verification. I have seen many female athletes of different races look far more manly than Semenya, and have never ever heard a commentator even jokingly suggest that a gender discrepancy might exist.
I believe the other professional track and field athletes taking part in the current International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) world championship should protest and demand the federation give an immediate apology for disrespect to one of their athletes.
If this kind of nonsense is allowed to continue unbridled then it might only be a matter of time before someone or some group decides that Usain Bolt be given a Human-ity Test. So far they can find no drugs or illegal substances. Who knows? Some people might be thinking he is part cheetah!
Yours faithfully,
Richard Francois
