The IOC stopped gender testing after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, then why didn’t it ensure that it was also banned by the continental sports bodies like the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the likes? Is it laxity on the part of the IOC or the IOC itself is not sure what to do and what not to do?
Kristen: The IOC said they stopped sex testing, Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine (CASM) played in an integral part in their decision, for the very reason of the diversity of women’s gender make-ups, and the invasiveness of the IOC Medical Commissions process, which was assumed to “protect” sport (Go to http://www.casm-acms.org/forms/statements/GendereVerifEng.pdf).
The “gender parade” was one of the practices the IOC Medical Commission utilised until 2000, at international games or Olympics, in which women athletes had to parade naked in front of IOC Medical Commission members, assuring all females possessed the “sex” characteristics of being female. Historically, since the 30’s, the IOC used chromosome testing, as a method to test for a person’s sex. The level of variances in the female phenotype and inter-sex medical issues, which are “normal” birth issues, are well documented. Santhi is yet another victim among dozens of women who have been turned away from elite sporting events because of chromosomal variations. Many women — and men — never know they are inter-sexed or otherwise have “assumed abnormal” chromosomal make-up, unless they encounter developmental problems, are tested when considering to conceive a child (in the case of difficult conception), or, as only women do, learn publicly at an elite sporting event, such as the Asian games or Olympics. Men, interestingly, are spared this indignity.
Published – October 2007
Hindustan Times – Full Article
