I replied at length but my comment has been deleted. It’s very complicated. The NCAA policy on transgender participation says that Male to Female athletes need to complete 12 months of Testosterone blockers and added estrogen, Estradiol, which would have the effect of slowing a runner by 10% -12%, the average… Read more

As a trans man, Mosier is no doubt taking testosterone, and has a TUE to compete using exogenous T. He is not competing on his pre-transition (ie female) level of testosterone. Mosier is a superb athlete, puts in all the work, etc to make those national teams, but can make sure his T stays constant throughout tough… Read more

The NCAA transgender policy suggests 12 months of hormone therapy for MTF trans athletes. There is no mention of an upper testosterone limit nor of how testosterone is monitored. There is zero documentation, or indication,  that Telfer has complied with those rules. This post does trans athletes an enormous disservice.
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In much the same way that first gen birth control pills made women feel ill and had serious side effects (and we’re talking about millions of women), yes, it occurred to me that taking estrogen may have made her feel ill, and even now, many of her competitors are probably taking birth control pills that make them feel… Read more

Can we please stop with Michael Phelps and tall basketball players? There is not a category for long-armed swimmers and short-armed swimmers, nor is there one for short basketball players. If there was, officials would have to come up with a dividing line to define short from tall basketball players and protect those… Read more

Semenya was never disqualified, nor was she ever prevented from competing. For two years when the IAAF’s testosterone limit of 10 nmol/liter was in effect, Semenya had to lower her testosterone to that 10 nmol/liter limit (which is within what’s considered the normal range for men, more than 95% of women’s… Read more

I don’t agree with you,
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“And as many have noted, the women who are singled out for extra scrutiny tend to be non-white and from the global south.” Read more

Mom, you’re embarrassing me.
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It might. For other runners. Travis and Becky are from small towns in Wisconsin. They do not do anything to impress. Did you see that Mountain Dew in the top photo? That’s the only sociopathic evidence anyone can produce. Read more

No.
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Not if I’m 60.
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I wondered the same thing. Suburban schools like Edina and Eden Prairie have more non-Asian girls on their teams, but those girls don’t treat it like their main sport, as the Johnson girls do. I asked the Johnson girls about the Asian dominance and they put it up to the fact that most Hmong people live in the Twin… Read more

No one is cut from the team. There’s varsity, JV and C squad, and everyone who comes out can play at the level their skills determine. As it turns out, the vast majority of the 100 or so girls who come out for badminton in March are Asian. The girls themselves, not the coaches, find their level at the beginning of the… Read more

Agreed 100%
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Ross Tucker’s video on the subject brings articulate insights on why this ruling does look anti-Semenya, but also why a women’s category in sports needs to be defended.

Thanks. Kawauchi is a fascinating character, modern samurai. I’ve done one in-person interview with him (before NYC Marathon) and that was lucky. Getting first-person information from him is really difficult because he rarely comes to the U.S., he doesn’t speak English, and due to his government job, any interview you… Read more

White, Christian, rich, and male, I wouldadd.
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it’s not above. it’s by Ardent
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First of all, see the comment above this one. And you’re right, there are few sub-4 guys in the Army. But, there are guys who ran 4:30 to 4:45 in high school who didn’t go to college and joined the Army. As Sean Ryan pointed out, these guys either missed the cut-off for WCAP, or didn’t know about it...any number of… Read more