By Peter Sinkamba
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has come up with new regulations that could prevent female athletes who naturally produce above-normal amounts of testosterone, from competing in events ranging from 400 to 1000 meters to reduce their blood testosterone level by taking hormonal contraceptives, such as birth control. Administering drugs to an athlete in order to inhibit or enhance sporting performance is doping.
For elite female track and field athletes to be eligible to race in future international competitions, they could be forced to take medication to lower their testosterone levels or, if they don’t want to alter their body’s chemistry, compete against men.
Two times Olympic 800m champion South African Caster Semenya is the key victim of this regulation. Though she has appealed against IAAF new regulations, I feel that the African Union leadership has let her down. In fact, the leadership has let down the entire black race. The leaders should have forcefully rejected this regulation because is an insult to the black race for the reasons below.
It is known fact that the black race has the highest levels of testosterone out of the major races of humanity. The simple reason for this natural endowment is our exposure to intense sunlight which in turn increases our vitamin D in our bodies.
Now, vitamin D is not really a vitamin; it is a steroid hormone. Higher levels of testosterone occur to people who live in areas of increased exposure to the sun.
Of course, this is the case for the African race. Since vitamin D comes from the sun, the more the Africans get exposed to sunlight, the more Vitamin D that person gets, which in turn increases their testosterone levels.
For this reason, those populations closer to the equator get more vitamin D from the sun’s rays, and consequently have higher levels of testosterone, on average. Of course, the Middle East also gets more sunlight than does Europe, so their levels of testosterone will be higher due to increased vitamin D, which in turn increases testosterone. No wonder there are more acts of aggression in higher testosterone areas: DRC, Uganda, Angola, Nigeria, Sudan, Venezuela, Middle East, name it.
So, is it our fault that we the Africans were born in Africa, and live in Africa, which receives more sunlight than Europe? Why should our sunlight endowment be our curse? For centuries, we suffered at the hands of Europeans untold misery for our gold, diamonds, and other natural resources.
Due to our higher levels of testosterone, we terribly suffered at the hands of Europeans, taken as slaves to the Americas and Caribbean to go and do all sorts of donkey work. And for our endowment of higher levels of testosterone, we continue to suffer humiliation like Semenya.
Meanwhile, our African Union leaders are mute over this insult? Africa mayo, Africa, twasebana!
The Author is a leader of the Opposition Greens Party in Zambia
I like Semenya but she is no female me Sinkamba.
Listen her speak, listen to her run, look at her physicality and then stop talking nonsense.
Make sense because aide from her genetalia she is not exactly a woman and the IAAF are right.
Talk about politics which you mildly are good at.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
People you are here watching abena Peter running crazy. The man need checked out, maybe it’s signs of stroke.
He used to discuss heavy economic issues, but this month he is bringing up extremely contravential subjects.
– peace to dying
– human body stolen and sold to Luo’s colleges.
– now he says that PF women look like men because of too much of too much exposure to sun at KK airport where they spend most of their time singing.
Sinkamba’ science is wrong.
that semenya is a man…the looks and the voice before we go further.
I feel Castor was born a hermaphrodite but the wrong genitalia was taken out at birth. She maybe anatomically female but she is a dude. That’s why it is advisable for parents of hermaphrodites to delay the surgery until after puberty to see what characteristics will be dominant.
Why do we always rush to color, race, tribe, language every time, south Africa is one crazy country everything is possible, the same IAAF has reprimanded Russian athletes covers use of stimulants, what about the famous American female athlete Jones, what about abena armstrong list is endless,but when they ttouch your caster who married a fellow female to prove his masculinity ati racism.
There was a clip on super sport where he/she was heard saying “I will consult my wife”
It’s your ignorance speaking volumes here . Go and check your own level of testosterone and compare with other females for various measures , then come out open and admit you’re a bisexual to those possess lessor levels of testosterone . If voice and physique determine ones gender … I’m afraid your world is still a primitive one… if being a lesbian is abnormality in your thinking , then you’re a retard . We forgive the weaker amongst us . You too forgiven .
Instead of crying “wolf”, a spade should be called a spade. Caster is a man. He wore a suit at his wedding. Why did he not wear a wedding dress? To depict that he is a man, maybe?
I have watched a documentary of that Castor, she is a chick, and she has failed to grow a beard despite trying for several year. She had a boyfriend in her village, who is still waiting until she retires from running. All the guys in village confirmed that Castor is girl.
This Castor is better and more respectable than that thing you have on your TV show called Lusaka Hustle.
It is Sunday, change sunject.
@Nostradamus
Before you read my man’s articles smoke something green, then you will understand his point of view or you will see things through his eyes kkkkkkk
AU is simply toothless talk-shop for useless politicians to catch-up…this is wrong at all levels only God knows what else they will do to keep us down.
Nostra… – Please don’t spew your ignorance here ..have you asked yourself why Caster was wearing a suit and her other half a wedding dress? Look at the photos clearly ….she is married to a woman as she is a lesbian. I know this will be hard to understand after you had whiskey already.
Nonsense
Do you have a different Virgina you *****???????????
Forcing athletes to take DRUGS to change their natural hormonal balance in their bodies in order to affect performance is definitely DOPING. And it is already ILLEGAL in any sport overseen by the IAAF. On this one, I completely agree with Mr. Sinkamba.
If it is perfectly alright for the IAAF to force certain female athletes to take Birth Control meds in order to reduce testosterone to so called “acceptable” levels, what would then prevent other female athletes with NATURALLY LOWER levels of testosterone from taking DRUGS to boost their testosterone levels (for as long as they don’t go beyond the IAAF set limit) in order to improve their physique and performance? I am sure this would be considered doping and illegal by the same IAAF, as it already does. That is why rules and laws…
Continue…
that are written to target individuals than a problem are always a bad idea.
With Semenya on the scene or not, sports bodies like the IAAF should not be in the business of PRESCRIBING meds to athletes…… especially what would surely amount to DOPING!
Caster has no feminine features visibly. I don’t further beyond her clothes how female she is. This vitamin D has severely attacked Caster more than any others African
Ndanje most times you don’t make sense Are you an exam leak product?
So should she be discriminated against for having more Vit D in her body. Have you tried to measure the hormonal differences between you and Christiano Ronaldo!
No. Because that’s simply our make up. One is lucky or unlucky to have this or the other hormone more than others. Let’s accept our natural make up. Inhibiting or enhancing hormones by taking drugs is surely “doping”. Shame upon IAAF.
I don’t know what you mean. Is it the English you have failed to understand? We never even knew that one could access exam papers during my time. Does it mean the ones who have agreed with me are dull?
Yes very much so. They are dull. As for the English yes it is the grammar that does not make sense
Are you afraid of being deported from RSA? For your information I got better results in language and literature than all my school mates in my exams. I must add that you’re the one who’s dull because attach too much importance to a foreign language.
No I am in Zambia ndanje the flag doesn’t determine where I am if you understand IT. I really wonder how you got better marks than your peers. It says so much about their prowess.
By the way our papers were marked in UK not in at Mick Mouse ECZ. As for me knowing how your nonsense IT works, yes I have some idea but as is normal, levels of knowledge are different depending on the relevance of what is at hand to you. It’s like a doctor boasting to clinical officer that he’s better than him. To me that doctor is worse than a person who’s never entered a class room.
Sorry ba Ndanje you mean Cambridge exams! Kansi nimwe Bamudala. Didn’t that end in 1968 or 70? So you must be 70 years old or so. munikulupilieko. I’m very sorry
No I am not in my seventies but very proud to be part of that period. It ended in 1976 and the advantage was it made our entering British school much easier. By the way how come you are able to respond to my postings if as you say my grammar doesn’t make sense? I have my own style of writing and it’s appreciated by people with good brains.
Semenya is a.man and it’s unfair for him to be running with females. She should reduce her hormones.
Ciwamina galu ka? Suddenly we have moved from the genitalia to her voice and so-called physicality? I remember that last time there was this controversy there was a visit to her village where most of the women there are just as she is – and are still having babies! I think we need our billionaires (and those who steal the billions) to beef up our own African Athletics outfit so we can do our own thing mwe. It is too much of being dictated to. Sinkamba DOES have a point. Yes – vote me down if you want!
That man Simenya should run with his fellow me.
@kalok….Sinkamba is right like many a times ….just that pa Africa we await the might whites to dictate how things should be…simply because everything is properly done by them….they have the necessary resources to support their analysis and we don’t….the fact is we have seen many of the whites who do look like men…..talk of most Germany and Russian women….and none will be subjected to such nonsense….their own GOAT Selena Williams suffered such rididule simply because she is black…..these don’t like been superseded by anything of darker color……
Ba Sinkamba mwaitaya.
How come our African women are more feminine than Casta despite the so called enhanced testo levels? Our women are generally petite and can’t run from a good whipping if they had to.
I just wanted to understand why ranging from 400 to 1000 meters?
Why not just all events?
Peter no why do we give heads of states sooo much power. The story of Castor is an emotive one. Recall when she first raced her fellow competitors thought she was hiding her gender. They subjected her to crude methods ie her own dressing corner, a crude shake down only to find she has female genitals. However, whereas she takes nothing to enhance her performance her abnormal production of testosterone causes her an undue advantage when she races with persons with normal production of testosterone. So to even the score they are saying take a drug to normalize the excretion of this hormone. Lets not be emotional and think through this.
So what is different between what you are suggesting and DOPING? Just because we think of doping as taking drugs (illegal or not) to enhance an athlete’s performance, why wouldn’t taking drugs to suppress an athlete’s natural performance be considered doping and illegal?
Ba LT Sinkamba needs to be challenged why are you blocking me?
I think Sinkamba has to be challenged now although LT is blocking me. If this appears later people won’t see it
Sinkamba is misusing a lot of hypotheses for his silly arguments just listen to this:
It is known fact that the black race has the highest levels of testosterone out of the major races of humanity.
That’s a lie. Just check whose populations are highest.
The simple reason for this natural endowment is our exposure to intense sunlight which in turn increases our vitamin D in our bodies.
Africans aren’t the only ones that are exposed to vitamin d. The Indians, including the red Indians also are.
As for his stuupeed link of violence with vitamin d he conveniently ignores the world s most violent countries in Europe and cites Africans and other handpicked examples…
I have NOTHING AGAINST SINKAMBA bcoz most of the time is spot on. BUT ON THIS ONE I AM WITH YOU!! Where is his empirical evidence to support what he saying? Does he know that SOME VIOLENCE AND BREAK DOWN IN LAW AND ORDER in the countries he has mentioned here is CAUSED BY GREED BY LEADERS IN SOME OF THE MENTIONED COUNTRIES AND THE WEST’S INTEREST IN THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF SOME OF THESE COUNTRIES!! It is quite disappointing that a future President can be peddling such stereotypes!!
Zambia is ours he is ignoring the wars that have been started by Europeans and selectively focusing on African conflicts so he can prove his fake vitamin d theory that everyone is swallowing here. Can’t they see how narrow he is?
Imwe ba LT I haven’t finished tearing up your very favored Sinkamba allow me to finish him
OK ba LT Ive tried 200 times to post my challenge to Sinkamba and you’ve blocked me I now leave your cheap website for Zambia watchdog
Caster has your wife. Why does she still insist on running with girls?
Imwe these whites are scared of losing to Africans. Can we play our own games, kalambe, waida, kakuluwe , etc.
interesting so its for hormones to blame for homosexuality. if vitamin D theory were correct then Africa should have had highest number of lgbts
Caster is something else bane,, I would defend her if she could at least bear a child, or have husband. But she has married a woman, she dresses like man, talks like a man and has no breast in front of her chest. It is pretty hard to justify her claims of being a woman. In sports history I have Seen many tough strong women who dominate but breasts, bums, beauty, and children are there to justify their sex. Not this Caster of yours
a suppressant and an enhancer are the same in your view?
I think s/he has an unfair advantange over woman. S/he must compete with men because her system is a man’s. Or s/he should have his/her whatever levels to a normal woman’s.. We are just being emotional. Whats racist about that?