The Guardian appears to have the best report about Lauren Jeska.
Personally I believe all humans should be able to compete in the sport of their choice and I no longer have any concerns about those veterans, ladies, kids and other assorted runners who seem to be able to race faster than me now.
The recent reports about gender self declaration does raise some concerns however.
Last edited by XRunner; 17-10-2020 at 02:12 AM.
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My first answer was
"no, trans women should not be allowed to compete against women, because despite artificially lowering testosterone they still benefit from a biological advantage".
But if the argument for inclusion is "you can compete against everybody, unless you possess a biological advantage...." then why do we allow tall blokes playing basketball volleyball etc etc against short ones?
Clearly a level playing field is not there. Cannot be there, will never be there. Some are born taller, smarter, stronger, more handsome, no matter what the rules. Mother nature is not equally generous to all. To deny some folks to compete against some others "because they have a biological advantage the others cannot catch up with" would mean nobody is allowed to compete against nobody else. Almost.
I think Disabled sports have grappled with this conundrum in a way that can inform this argument. They have grouped people with similar disability to allow fair competition (although still grouped by 'sex'). So in non-disabled sport if the only grouping you make is by 'sex', then first you must agree a definition of sex and why the distinction is important for fair competition. If anyone falls outside of that definition, then they cannot compete. Just the same as a two legged athlete wanting to compete in a category for one legged athletes. It would be ridiculous for that athlete to claim unfair discrimination.
Simon Blease
Monmouth
[QUOTE=Gambatte;668055]
But if the argument for inclusion is "you can compete against everybody, unless you possess a biological advantage...." then why do we allow tall blokes playing basketball volleyball etc etc against short ones?
If the word un-natural is inserted into your quote "you can compete against everybody, unless you possess an UN-NATURAL biological advantage..." you get your answer as to why we allow people of different heights to compete against each other.
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
You would need a method of distinguishing unnatural from unusual and physical from psychological characteristics.Originally Posted by Llani Boy
Last edited by XRunner; 17-10-2020 at 12:30 PM.
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Yeah...too true. Personally, I've often wondered how we got ourselves in the perverse situation that we've allow people to wear spectacles/contact lenses and all sorts of similarly unnatural performance enhancers in a myriad of sports! Why can't they have their own leagues/divisions?
As a 'normally' sighted person, I feel disadvantaged by all these lazy cheats who just can't be bothered to try seeing harder. I've lost many a place in MMs by these rotters using their unnatural advantages to scrutinize route choices and spy out the route ahead. Grrrrh
Am Yisrael Chai
We could have a class in fell races for people with a dodgy heart who aren't allowed to exceed 140bpm.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Now you're talking!
Simon Blease
Monmouth
Clearly you've never worn glasses if you think they are an advantage in a fell race or MMYeah...too true. Personally, I've often wondered how we got ourselves in the perverse situation that we've allow people to wear spectacles/contact lenses and all sorts of similarly unnatural performance enhancers in a myriad of sports! Why can't they have their own leagues/divisions?
As a 'normally' sighted person, I feel disadvantaged by all these lazy cheats who just can't be bothered to try seeing harder. I've lost many a place in MMs by these rotters using their unnatural advantages to scrutinize route choices and spy out the route ahead. Grrrrh
I always leave mine at home when I go for a run.
As for contact lenses, I couldn't possibly comment other than to say I've seen some runners squirming around looking for a lost one in the mud
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell
Are pacemakers banned in fell races?We could have a class in fell races for people with a dodgy heart who aren't allowed to exceed 140bpm.
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