Namibian Track Coach calls for Testosterone Rule Change

By Butch Maier | 8/2/2021

Gynecologist mandates, testosterone testing, and two more penalized African runners. This is the state of women’s track and field.

Namibian Olympic women’s track hopefuls, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, planned to compete in the 400 meters for the 2021 Olympics. However, track-governing body World Athletics mandated testing for naturally high testosterone levels, disqualifying both athletes.

Female track athletes must have a blood testosterone level of less than 5 nmol/L, according to the World Athletics Eligibility Restrictions for the Female Classification.

“We need to obey the rules,” said Henk Botha, the runners’ coach, “If the rule is not fair, then we need to change the rule.”

Higher levels

When questioned, World Athletics provided us with a “Fact Sheet” listing the normal female testosterone range at 0.2 to 1.79 nmol/L.

However, BioInteractive.org’s research, “Testosterone Levels in Elite Athletes,” states that “blood testosterone levels typically range from about 0.5 to 2.5 nmol/L in women.” 

In this study, blood samples were collected from 676 Olympic-level athletes. None were known to be intersex or use performance-enhancing drugs. Results revealed eight women’s track and field athletes with levels above 5 nmol/L, including six above 10 nmol/L and two above 20 nmol/L.

In 2012, an American Journal of Human Biology study concluded that higher concentrations of testosterone “could indicate a greater capacity for physical performance at higher work rates, which is commensurate with the demands of elite sport.”

Basically, elite female athletes naturally have more testosterone. 

Sliding Guidelines

Surprisingly, Mboma and Masilingi can still run in Tokyo—in the 200 meters. According to current regulations, the restricted events are the 400 meters, the one-mile races, and all events between those distances.

Yet, these confusing inconsistencies are nothing new for penalized female athletes.

In 2020, the Santa Clara Law Review published an article titled, “Can track and field’s governing body ban female runners from competing in the U.S. because of high testosterone levels?”

They examined the 2019 Court of Arbitration decision against South African middle-distance runner, Caster Semenya, who was mandated by World Athletics to “take testosterone-reducing hormones in order to compete internationally.”

Opening the Cases 

According to the World Athletics Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification, the medical manager may investigate and test an athlete at any time, without limitation.

The official procedure involves:

- An initial assessment involving a clinical examination, compilation of clinical and anamnestic data, and a preliminary endocrine assessment

- Evaluation by an expert panel to determine whether further assessment is warranted

- If warranted, referral to a specialist to diagnose the cause of elevated testosterone levels and degree of androgen insensitivity (if any)

- Review of the report by the expert panel, followed by a written recommendation

Yet, within this process, there are clear discrepancies in who is tested and why. Scales of justice are now being used to weigh the attributes of the human body.

Testy Issue

For the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Mboma and Masilingi were mandated to go to a gynecologist. After reports that they “had no male organs,” the runners were sent for a blood test.

“They never failed,” Botha said, as their coach of three years, “They take a urine test every meet. All of the tests are clear.”

So why were they subjected to the blood test?

“The reason for testing them was because of their times,” Botha said.

This year, Mboma and Masilingi emerged in women’s track with two of the three fastest 400-meter times.

“How many women are being tested?” Botha wonders, “How many from Africa? And how many from other countries?”

When asked these questions, World Athletics responded with a “Fact Sheet” that failed to provide answers.

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