Coe should apologise LIMBA MUPETAMIThe president of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, has done black athletes a disservice and should apologise or resign with immediate effect.
Coe in leadership of World Athletics (WA) promoted regulations which have fuelled and birthed a toxic place where sexism and racism exist and work hand in hand.
Coe has for years promoted a culture where black athletes are told to run, but not too fast, lest they exceed the expectations of the organisation led by him.
He has promoted a culture where, if you show too much speed, officials will do tests on you and kick you out of an event just to curb and control you.
If you complain, he will tell you to go for surgery or take drugs to reduce your testosterone. WA with Coe as head never cared about or for black female athletes and what these alternatives were and are doing to them.
He just wants to level the playing field. Who tells basketball players that they are too tall for their opponents? It’s okay for Coe if you are muscular, just don’t be fast.
Coe should really apologise because fresh findings have now proven that athletes with high natural testosterone levels don’t have a competitive advantage over those with low levels of the hormone. The new findings from the same scientists who fed Coe this rubbish state that the regulation was never based on actual scientific research.
Instead, it suggests the implementation of the rule was based on WA’s view of what a woman in the affected disciplines ought to be.
Coe has demeaned, belittled and dehumanised black female athletes. Imagine telling a shy 18-year-old to open her legs so that they can do tests on her to determine her gender. Just because she ran faster than some athletes from Poland.
Coe also needs to understand that with fresh findings coming out, he needs to either apologise to all the athletes he has stolen opportunities from, or he has to do the right thing and that is to step down.
Imagine how athletes like Caster Semenya, Beatrice Masilingi and Christine Mboma were robbed of their chance to star in the events they were barred from
Imagine how the sport continues to lose because of rules set by the likes of Coe. We need someone who helps all athletes, irrespective of the fact that they are from Africa or Europe. We don’t need an organisation or someone everyone is scared of. In that case, Africans should pull together resources and have their own Games where athletes run freely without being forced to take drugs. But before that happens, Coe must apologise to the whole of Africa.
limba@namibiansun.com