Gender defender

As Usain Bolt continues to streak across the World Athletics Championships in Berlin like a bolt of lightning, it is Caster Semenya's gender test imbroglio that is now in the spotlight. The South African athlete who won the women's 800m at the Championships has been asked to take a gender verification test.

Suspicions were raised after Semenya posted the phenomenal timing. Reports suggested that her overly muscular build may have provoked authorities to take a test. Semenya, one read, was so upset that she had to be persuaded to go up to the podium to receive her medal. The report reminded one of what a psychologist had once said: sexual humiliation seems to be the hardest to forget. To be fair to the international athletics authorities, they have admitted that the athlete may not know that she (in this case, Semenya) may have a chromosomal abnormality that may give her an unfair advantage in women's only events. Yet, the fact that one could have one's gender questioned, that too on the world stage, is enough to send one into a spiral of depression and destroy confidence.

South Africa though is standing by their athlete and Semenya, reports say, was given a great welcome as she arrived in Johannesburg from Berlin. This support stands out in contrast to the reaction some years ago, when India's Santhi Soundarajan won a silver medal in the women's 800m at the 2006 December Asian Games in Doha (Qatar). She was stripped of her medal after she failed a sex determination test. Santhi was not a cheat. She was unaware of any, 'abnormality' till then.

Newspaper headlines screamed: 'Shame' and Santhi was greeted with ridicule on her return. A raucous press conference followed where she was asked questions about her menstrual cycle. If there was any Indian sports official who supported her, he was not visible and his voice not loud enough. Santhi went back to her village in Tamil Nadu, spiralling into a cycle of depression. She allegedly attempted suicide in 2007, though she was saved. When this columnist spoke to her last, she was employed as coach in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Chennai.

Even at that time, Santhi was extremely dejected and repeatedly told this columnist, "I am unwell," indicating a fragile mental state. One hopes the Caster Semenya story would have a happier twist than Santhi's.