Running a Race - Who Would Have Thought It Was So Complicated?

Caster Semenya, a two time Olympic champion from South Africa has just "lost" her battle with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the highest court in international sports. Semenya, who has won two gold medals in the 800 metres event was born with a higher than normal level of testosterone in her system. This higher level has meant that she has slightly stronger bones and more muscle mass than her fellow competitors. She, therefore, is more likely to win in races against other women. Her higher hormone levels do not mean that she wins easily or without hours and hours of daily workouts. She has never tested positive for any synthetic drugs.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that if she wants to compete at an international level, she must take medication that will reduce her levels of testosterone. Ignoring for a moment the somewhat paradoxical notion that a ruling body of international sports, a group who have consistently chastised athletes who take drugs to change their hormone levels - have suggested that someone take a drug to change their hormone levels, one needs to consider if Semenya's and perhaps other similar athletes' human rights have been violated.

Within the Western World, there is a general movement to recognize people who are different in terms of gender or sexually from what has been perceived as the norm. It is a difficult conversation but there is ample proof that we, as a whole, are getting better at accepting people for what they are. Suggesting that Semenya needs to take a drug to make her more like "us" just feels wrong.

On the other hand - if I was an 18-year-old female athlete who had won every 800-metre event at the provincial and perhaps national level and was considering whether or not I would pursue a life as an international athlete, I would have to wonder if it was worth it. No matter how hard I worked, no matter what sacrifices I would make, I would know that if at the major international events Semenya was competing, I might never win a gold medal. It would not be a matter of who trained harder or who had better coaches, Semenya would win because of increased testosterone levels in her system. And that would feel unfair.

I would understand that young woman's frustration. In fact, I might even want to argue that I should be allowed to increase my testosterone levels so that the playing field is level. If I was that young woman's dad, I might ask her if it all of the hard work would be worth it if the dream that fuelled that dream was a gold medal.
I am not sure if there is a solution to this discussion. I certainly do not have one. I know that we should not force people to change who and what they are. I also know that while I have no interest in international sports, and I have never had a desire to compete at anything close to that level - for some people it is important that they do. As much as I am uncomfortable with people conforming to the norm, I am equally uncomfortable taking dreams away from people.

What to do About The Flooding

Either through sheer luck, good fortune or the grace of some spiritual being - I have never been involved in a life-threatening natural disaster. My heart always goes out to those people, especially those in developing countries who have so little and lose it all in floods, typhoons or tsunamis. While Canadians may have more protections and supports available than do people living in the developing world, their loss of the irreplaceable items in their lives and the disruptions that will last for months after the rest of us have forgotten about the event are just as significant. I cannot imagine the stress, frustration and exhaustion that some Canadians are now experiencing in Eastern Canada. Long after the flood waters recede, they will be picking up the bits and pieces of their lives.

In the upcoming days and weeks, people will complain about the lack of government planning, the lack of foresight - someone should have known this would happen and stopped it. Perhaps someone will even attempt to sue someone of something. But the flooding around Ottawa, Montreal or St. John is not much of a surprise for many people. Or at least it should not have been. If humans continually pave over our creeks, our streams, our meadows - where do they expect the melting snow and rainwater to go? If we continue to build dams, dredge swamps, cut down small forests and redefine/reshape the shores of rivers and lakes - how can we be surprised that the water flows onto our streets and into our basements? While people may be right, governments can and should do more to prepare urban areas for such widespread flooding, those same people need to be prepared to start paying for those preventative measures.

Winnipeg, the only Canadian city that has had to invest money in creating alternative routes for the flood water, has spent millions and millions of dollars over half a century to ensure that its core does not get flooded again. Clearly, other cities will need to do the same thing and do so in a much shorter period of time. Other places in Canada not only done little planning but have continued to allow people to build in areas that could be at risk of flooding (our definition of a "flood plain" may need to be broadened). Town and city councils that are desperate to find funding to operate municipal services have been far too willing to allow developers to reshape the landscape in areas that are now at risk of flooding. If we do not want our grand-children, in 40 years time to be hearing about the loss of property and life because of flooding - then we need to make a commitment to do something now.

However, all of the floodways in the world are not going to stop the problem of too much water coming through the system at one time. Everyone, including politicians, need to accept that our climate is/has changed. There will be more frequent, stronger storms - not as the exception but as the norm. Our coasts will be inundated with hurricanes, while other coasts will experience drought years in succession with the resultant forest fires. Some of those changes are, in all likelihood permanent others are perhaps reversible over the long term, but until we accept the reality that change is occurring and that human activity is causing at least some of it - we are screwed.

We probably can't stop the flooding next year or the year after - but we can quit being so damn silly about partisan politics and get on with the job of saving our grandchildren.