The Sports Ministry of South Africa has announced today that Caster will be retaining the medal and prize money that she won while setting a world record for the 800 meter run last August, and that the results of her 'sex-verification testing' are a private matter, with final outcome still pending.
Poor handling of these matters by athletic officials resulted in a personal roller-coaster that no athlete should be subjected to, highlighting the need for a revision or tightening up of procedures and policies relating to gender at every level of coaching and administration.
In other words, the IAAF needs stand fast with a well-understood policy, and it needs to be upheld by every level of coach, official, and athlete in order to spare future athletes the experience of being second-guessed so publicly.
I think that good will come from all of this. Every conversation about gender that makes its way onto prime-time TV brings us one step closer to a revised popular attitude about women, gender, and sports.
And these conversations have been popping up a lot lately.
With all the heated talk about women's sports lately, it can be easy to forget how controversial and violent men's sports often get.
Take, for example, the story of University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert, who has been at the center of an internet firestorm since videos of her tripping and knocking over competitors began spreading around the internet.
For every blogger who was inspired to make a misogynistic comment about the video, another has risen to question the standards of aggressive sport behavior and of gender performance being pulled into focus.
The whole world is watching their blogroll and Youtube comments... some of them might actually be learning something!
Image from Wiki Commons
