re: #56 Blind Frog Belly White

Interesting. On the one hand there’s the clear evidence in many sports and over decades of recordkeeping that men have a performance advantage over women, and thus we have separate categories for men and women in nearly all sports.

It makes perfect sense.

On the other hand it is clear that what constitutes a woman or a man is not a black and white thing, and that while, for example Dutee Chand may have an advantage in one area due to higher natural testosterone levels, other athletes have other advantages that are also natural. To be blunt, you don’t get to be a world class athlete without being naturally outside the norm. So to penalize Chand for a natural advantage while not penalizing others with their own natural advantages is unfair.

That also makes perfect sense.

So, what do you do? How do you determine what constitutes Male and Female for the purpose of sporting competition?

Simple. You get rid of the male/female category’s. You judge the participants on their ability, not their sex. Those who can’t compete and win in one class move down to a lower class and the converse if you compete and consistently win in one class, move up to a higher class.