Africa-Press – Namibia. CHRISTINE Mboma will challenge World Athletics’ (WA) latest barrier on the track and still be a world-class athlete with lower testosterone levels, says coach Henk Botha.
Similarly, Athletics Namibia (AN) yesterday condemned WA’s new requirements, describing the regulations as “discriminatory, unfair, stigmatising and not safeguarding all women in sport”.
Speaking to Desert Radio this week, Botha said Mboma’s ability outweighed the perceived advantages that stem from having naturally high levels of testosterone in women’s track events, as suggested by WA.
The new regulations require that Mboma and her compatriot Beatrice Masilingi, who are classified as athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) by the global governing body of athletics, suppress their testosterone levels for six months before competing in any WA-sanctioned event.
The other option for DSD athletes is to quit the sport altogether.
Botha said Olympic silver medallist Mboma will not quit athletics and intends to continue building her impressive catalogue of achievements, effectively meaning the 19-year-old will have to undergo controversial hormone therapy.
“I’m very optimistic that Christine will be 100% competitive on the track. Christine feels the same way. We know her situation, and we know that Christine has a tremendous amount of speed and that is not from testosterone levels,” Botha said.
“We’ve had disappointments and some obstacles in the past. There’s not a lot that we can do as Namibians, we’ll have to take this one on the chin and do our best to get Christine back on the track,” he continued.
The new testosterone threshold is below 2,5 nanomoles per litre – half of the previously accepted level of five nanomoles.
“The one option is to stop with athletics, the other option is to go to court. Then, the other option is reducing the levels.
“The first two were never on our table because we don’t have the money to go to court. Stopping athletics is also not something that Christine is ready to do now, she’s young and she’s got a great career in front of her.
“So, yes, we don’t actually have a choice. That’s what we must do [lower testosterone]. That is the law as it stands for now,” Botha.
WA first set limitations on Mboma and Masilingi in mid-2021 when the then 18-year-olds took athletics by storm with a series of excellent performances over 400m. After being subjected to ‘medical assessments’, they were found to produce enough natural testosterone to violate WA’s convoluted rules on the hormone.
The gifted teenagers were subsequently barred from events between 400 metres and one mile, and told to take drugs to lower their natural testosterone to continue competing in their favoured event, or choose running disciplines where the rule does not apply, like the 200m which they also excelled in.
The new rules will apply across all track events as from Saturday.
“AN is disappointed that athletes are being required to change their natural conditions to be eligible to compete,” the national athletics regulator said in a statement.
“AN is disappointed in the manner in which the new regulations are being enforced, considering that it makes affected athletes ineligible to compete in major upcoming international competitions, including the WA continental tour events, the Diamond league series and the World Championships this year.
AN said it will engage WA to reconsider the regulations.
“AN calls for fairness and for a policy that allows all athletes unhindered access to the sport they love. AN will allow all its athletes in Namibia to take part in the events of their choice and duly recognise performances and at its competitions, including national records,” read the AN statement.
IMPLICATIONS
WA’s position on the issue gives the impression that the Namibian stars and others like them are illegally doping, and intentionally so, said sport physiotherapist Munashe Chinyama, who runs a practice in Windhoek.
The general consensus among those opposed to these “arbitrary testosterone guidelines” is that Mboma and Masilingi are part of the collateral damage in WA’s ongoing, and ultimately successful, campaign to neutralise South African 800-metre runner Caster Semenya.
Referencing a comparative study between South Africa and parts of Europe, Chinyama said it was found that DSD cases appear more prevalent in Africa than Europe, for example.
It is telling that the majority high-profile athletes affected by the WA regulations are of African origin, while the future is also uncertain for Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, Mary Wambui of Kenya and Niger’s Aminatou Seyni.
“This goes by geographic location. Most likely, you will see less of these cases in Europe, than you would see in Africa, which makes it unfair to balance the scales because if it’s more common in one region, and you then put a rule that affects everyone you would disadvantage other people more than others,” said Chinyama.
In deciding to continue competing, Botha said they realise the dangers that come with hormone suppression.
“This is not something that is easy. We did a lot of research. We were expecting something like this, it was just a bit sooner than we thought,” said Botha.
“We spoke to a lot of people, professional people. Obviously, we have a lot of people on board for a decision like this,” Botha said.
“If there’s anything that doesn’t make Christine feel good or if she’s not in a happy place, we can just stop the meds and say ‘sorry it didn’t work for us’ and leave athletics.”
BIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES
Semenya, who was forced to take hormone suppressants between 2010 and 2015, said it has “unknown health consequences”.
She claimed the treatment left her feeling sick, saw her gaining weight and having panic attacks.
Chinyama said there is a possibility of adverse side effects which could impact the quality of life for Mboma and Masilingi.
“There are a host of implications to this. Using birth control pills mean you might, in that period, not be able to have children,” he said.
“These are young women that have got dreams and aspirations to start families. If you start with these kinds of regulations to say ‘lower your testosterone’ … there are medical implications to bring it to the levels that they are asking.”
Blanket regulations are not the solution when all affected parties are not treated the same, Chinyama said.
“When you say advantage, should we not distinguish unfair or natural from unnatural advantage? If you cheat and maybe inject yourself with testosterone, then yes, we have a different situation. Definitely, you have doped,” he said.
Mboma and Masilingi’s bodies are meant for sport and should be celebrated in the same manner as that of American superstar swimmer Michael Phelps, whose natural advantages border on the supernatural.
The most decorated Olympian of all time has double-jointed ankles which gave his kick unusual range. Phelps also reportedly produces just half the lactic acid of a typical athlete, and since lactic acid causes fatigue, it made him better equipped at a biological level to excel in his sport.
“In being diverse, we have different advantages and I hope that’s not something that counts against us. We have to be proud that we are different and they have to at least accommodate that from our perspective.”
Botha has not ruled out more rule changes should Mbomba continue to excel.
“I can’t say they [WA] won’t change anything or they will. It’s just becoming more difficult for them because I believe they don’t think we will take on this challenge,” he said.
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