Athletes who identify themselves as female but have medical
disorders that give them masculine characteristics should have their
disorders diagnosed and treated, the group concluded after two days of
meetings in Miami Beach. The experts also said that rules should be put
in place for determining an athlete’s eligibility to compete on a
case-by-case basis — but they did not indicate what those rules should
be.
“We did not address fairness,” said Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson of
Florida International University. He is an expert on such disorders and
participated in the meeting. “The entire concept was that these
individuals should be allowed to compete.”
The group, sponsored by the
I.O.C. and the governing body for track and field, met on Sunday and Monday in the wake of an international controversy over
Caster Semenya, the South African runner who
won the 800 meters at the world championships in Berlin in August. Other athletes
complained that her masculine features suggested that she should not be
allowed to compete as a woman, and...
