A Comparison in the Viewership of Caster Semenya:
IAAF vs. Nike
Harrison Martin and Anthony Delasanta
University of Rhode Island
COM 416
Professor Hobbs
Abstract
This paper will delve into the differences in viewership of Caster Semenya, a South African distance runner who also is a gold medalist of both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. The two corporations of Nike and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) have taken a distinct interest in Semenya as a person and as an athlete, and due to this, we will be discussing the differences in each corporations perspective of her and how these outlooks are seen across the media in propaganda today.
Case 1: The IAAF on Caster Semenya
Founded on July 17, 1912, the International Association of Athletics Foundation began as the International Amateur Athletic Federation in Stockholm, Sweden. The IAAF was founded as the world governing body for the sport of athletics (IAAF: About the IAAF), and oversaw all athletics, specifically those centered around track and field. The name of the organization changed in 2001 following worldwide changes involving social, economic and political transformations that influenced the athletics world. Athletes from all over the world are a part of IAAF, whether they compete indoors, outdoors, in various short to long distances races, or in field sports. The IAAF also hosts multiple events and championships in various parts of the world to make sure that every country has the ability to be included in these races, due to changing demands and to meet the needs of everyone who wishes to participate so they have the opportunity to do so.
One athlete in particular that has been gaining a substantial amount of media attention lately who is a part of IAAF is Caster Semenya. Semenya is a 28 year-old South African woman who competes in middle-distance outdoor track, mostly ranging in runs from 800 metres to 3000 metres. Semenya has won multiple gold medals in her career as a middle-distance runner, her most recent one being from the September 2018 IAAF Continental Cup, which was held in the Czech Republic, where she finished first with a time of 1:54.77 in the women’s 800 metres race (IAAF: Caster SEMENYA). The controversy that is happening revolving around Semenya is because she has intersex traits and is classified as an athlete with differences in sexual development (DSD). With this, Semenya has higher naturally occurring testosterone levels, also known as hyperandrogenism which is an endocrinological disorder, causing her to take on male characteristics. This disorder is common among reproductive-age women and affects 5-10% of them (Yildiz, 2006, p. 167).
In 2009, Semenya was subjected to questions about her sex. Due to her winning the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, while also beating her previous best time for the 800 metre by four seconds, she was asked to take a sex verification test to ensure that she was in fact, female and her successfulness wasn't due to illegal drug usage.. Sex verification tests are seen often in the Olympics, and based on “the combination of her rapid athletic progression and her appearance…” (Caster Semenya), the IAAF was unsure as to if her tests would come back stating that she was indeed female. Following this confidential test, her results were leaked and it was found that Semenya did have a higher production of testosterone within her system, three times that of the majority of women, and the IAAF gave this test to determine “whether she had a ‘rare medical condition’ giving her an ‘unfair advantage’” (Caster Semenya).
Back in 2011, the IAAF adopted various new rules and regulations stated specific standards that must be met for female athletes participating in athletics that have hyperandrogenism. Within these regulations, it is stated that “there was an upper limit for women athletes’ testosterone levels - set at 10 mol/L - with anyone above it required to take hormones to lower them to more ‘normal’ levels to compete” (Sport, 2016). Specifically, within regulations, she would “be required to suppress their testosterone production with medication to ensure it remains below [the specified level] if they want to compete in the 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m and 1,500m events. Semenya rules the roost in three of those distances: 400m, 800m and 1,500m” (New Frame).
This IAAF rule was reversed in 2015 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following the case of Dutee Chand v. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) & The International Association of Athletics Federations. In this case, Dutee Chand, a 19-year old female junior athlete from India, who participated in track and field athletics, “challenges the Hyperandrogenism Regulations on the basis that: (a) they discriminate unlawfully against female athletes and against athletes who possess a particular natural physical characteristic; (b) they are based on flawed factual assumptions about the relationship between testosterone and athletic performance; (c) they are disproportionate to any legitimate objective; and (d) they are an unauthorised form of doping control” (Court of Arbitration of Sports). At the conclusion of this case, it was found that there was insufficient evidence that higher levels of testosterone increased a female’s level of athletic performance. Following this case, the court stated that IAAF had to provide enough evidence within the next two years to bring back the regulation.
The concerns brought forth about Caster Semenya and her athletic ability by IAAF began in 2016 during the time of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Following her sex verification test in 2011, five years later, Semenya was now being looked into after winning the gold medal in Rio. She ended up running her personal best of 55.28 seconds in the 800 metres, setting a new South African national record. After her race, Sebastian Coe, the current president of IAAF, stated that he would be appealing to the court again to overturn the decision that athletes do not have to take medication to bring their hormones to an accepted level if they are intersex. Although usually not making comments to the press about IAAF and this specific topic that has been surrounding her for the past couple years, Semenya spoke to the press and was asked how if she felt that she had made a difference in her sport, with her saying, “I think it is all about loving one another. It’s not about discriminating against people. It is not about looking at how people look...it is not about being muscular. It is all about sport…” (Bull, 2016). Following this statement, may South Africans stood behind her and began the Twitter hashtag of #handsoffCaster, thus, bringing together many in support of Semenya against the scrutiny and discrimination she was experiencing.
In 2018, the IAAF changed the rule back to requiring athletes with hyperandrogenism to take specific medication to lower their abnormally high testosterone levels. Many people believe that due to the scope of these changes, only applying to those competing in the 400 metres, 800 metres, and 1,500 metres, that the rule change was targeting Semenya specifically (Caster Semenya).
Currently over the past few months of 2019, Semenya has been fighting back on the controversy of her being able to participate in the sport she loves and not having an unfair advantage due to her DSD and the way she was born. On March 27, 2019, an article was published in the Los Angeles Times titled, “Caster Semenya fights back against comments from Sebastian Coe, track’s top official” (Wharton, 2019). Coe had made comments to the Daily Telegraph of Australia stating that “the reason we have gender classification is because if you didn't then no woman would ever win another title or another medal or break another record in our sport” (Wharton, 2019). Semenya then responded to this insensitive comment, not directly, but by saying that “DSDs should be celebrated in sports like all other genetic variations that make elite athletes worth watching” (Wharton, 2019). Semenya, and many others, believe that she does not need to change the way that she was naturally born with medication just because certain individuals feel that she is a ‘threat’ to the sport when competing against other feels that may have a ‘disadvantage’.
Case 2: Nike on Caster Semenya
Nike, which sponsors Semenya as well as the controversial figure Colin Kaepernick, started an ad campaign to support Semenya and her legal battle with the IAAF. The advertisement displayed the phases of Semenya’s life as she progresses through her career getting faster and faster “Will it be easier for you if I wasn't so fast? Will it be simpler if I stop winning? Would you be more comfortable if I was less proud?" the commercial asks the viewer (Coffrini, 2018). The propaganda used in this commercial attacked the viewer. It employs the viewer to look in the mirror and think if they dislike Semenya because of her appearance. The argument that Nike is trying to put forward is that people that dislike Semenya and her athletic achievements because the fact that she exist makes them uncomfortable. Her “possessing an unusually developed muscular frame and a deep voice and has clocked times which believe her youth” (Kessel, 2009), but no one approaches Usain Bolt and says he’s too tall for his leg speed, and no one approaches Michael Phelps saying that his arms are abnormally long. Semenya believes that though she has naturally elevated testosterone, she shouldn't be punished for having this genetic mutation instead it should be celebrated like extra long legs or long arms.
Nike has backed Caster Semenya with an extreme tenacity in recent months. The Nike commercial about Semenya was released as a sequel to the Colin Kaepernick ad campaign. Nike even created a “Just Do It:” internet page for Caster Semenya posting the following statement: “We all have purpose, and I believe that each of us has an assignment we’re here to complete.” Those are the sage words of two-time Olympian and middle-distance running force Caster Semenya. With 18 gold medals to her name, the assignment for this bold, unapologetic athlete is to never stop pushing hard — both on and off the track” (Nike Inc, 2019). The website paired with Caster’s Just Do It film is phenomenal propaganda as Nike takes a hard left turn politically.
Edward Bernays, in his masterful book Propaganda, would often urge the propagandist to learn who their market is and create effective advertising to this audience. Writer Jessica Stillman wrote in a Inc. article titled Here's the Data That Proves Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Is Seriously Smart Marketing about the growing draw for companies to get political even going on to state that “liberals are a lot more interested in companies getting political” (Stillman, 2018). The Caster Semenya fight with the IAAF is also incredibly controversial and political and Nike taking a stance on this subject shows that they support who they sponsor. This also opens up a whole new market in South Africa whose population and athletic federations support Semenya and her cause fully. Stillman states in her article about Kaepernick, "Old angry white guys are not a core demographic for Nike. The company's customers skew younger, urban, and liberal, so angering conservatives is probably only going to win Nike increased loyalty” (Stillman, 2018).
In February of 2019, Nike doubled down on there support of Caster Semenya featuring her in the internationally received commercial “Dream Crazier”, which was voiced over by Serena Williams, who has too been the focus of several gender and race scandals and debates. The video displays Semenya barrelling down the last twenty meters of a 400 metre dash. Williams continues her voice over, “What if you were so good that there was something wrong with you?” Nike changed the focus from the Semenya case being a gender issue to a sex issue. Supporting Semenya isn’t just supporting an individual, it is supporting women as a whole.
Contrasting the Cases
When looking at the differences in viewership of Caster Semenya by Nike and IAAF, it can be seen that Nike is more supportive of her and the unique disorder that she was born with, while IAAF is seen to be consistent patronizing her over something she has no control over. Though there is evidence that the having hyperandrogenism can lead to increased athletic performance, there is no clear solution to alleviate the issue. The IAAF seeks to tell the sporting world the line between what is woman and what is not woman enough. Nike has taken the controversy and took it as an opportunity to take a stance and gain more loyal customers. It is unclear if Nike actually believes the new message that the company is putting forward but with this new left turn for the company the have been able to create more loyal customers. (Stillman, 2019)
Works Cited
Bull, A. (2016, August 21). Caster Semenya wins gold but faces more scrutiny as IAAF press case. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/21/caster-semenya-wins-gold-but-faces-scrutiny
Caster Semenya. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya
Court of Arbitration of Sports. (2015, July 24). CAS2014/A/3759 Dutee Chand v. AFI & IAAF. Retrieved from https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/award_internet.pdf
IAAF: About the IAAF. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iaaf.org/about-iaaf
IAAF: Caster SEMENYA | Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/south-africa/caster-semenya-242560
New Frame. (2019, February 25). Caster Semenya and the IAAF witch-hunt. Retrieved from https://www.newframe.com/caster-semenya-and-iaaf-witch-hunt
Sport, G. (2016, July 29). What is an intersex athlete? Explaining the case of Caster Semenya. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/29/what-is-an-intersex-athlete-explaining-the-case-of-caster-semenya
Wharton, D. (2019, March 27). Caster Semenya fights back against comments from Sebastian Coe, track's top official. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-caster-semenya-sebastian-coe-20190327-story.html
Yildiz, B. O. (2006). Diagnosis of hyperandrogenism: clinical criteria. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 20(2), 167–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beem.2006.02.004
N. (2018, September 10). Nike - Just Do It: Caster Semenya. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from https://news.nike.com/featured_video/just-do-it-caster-semenya-film
Stillman, J. (2018, September 05). Here's the Data That Proves Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Is Seriously Smart Marketing. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/heres-data-that-proves-nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad-is-seriously-smart-marketing.html
Here is the google Doc version
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l069iCs2RCUieaLVHf0rgRUdxbtI58TehbHQl3NSOLc/edit?usp=sharing
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