Retired Polish sprinter Marcin Urbaś sparked outrage for insisting 18-year-old Namibian runner Christine Mboma must be a man.
Why?
Because she can run faster than Urbaś could at her age.
Mboma recently won the silver medal for the women's 200-meter dash at the Tokyo Olympics with a time of 21.81 seconds.
Because Mboma was disqualified in previous competitions for having naturally higher testosterone level, Urbaś is ludicrously convinced that an examination will reveal Mboma is secretly a man.
Urbaś held the world record for the 200-meter dash since 1999.
Speaking to media, Urbaś made several claims about Mboma's gender identity on the basis she beat his time in the 200-meter dash when he was 18.
"I would like to request a thorough test on Mboma to find out if she definitely is a woman. The testosterone advantage of Mboma over other participants is seen with the naked eye."
"In construction, movement, technique, at the same time as speed and endurance. She has the parameters of an 18-year-old boy, at that age my PB was 22.01 and she has done it in 21.97 in Tokyo."
Varying levels of sex hormones in humans is completely natural and very common.
Urbaś is not a doctor and has no qualifications to evaluate a person's gender or sex.
And Mboma only won the silver medal, which means Jamaican gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah also beat Urbaś' time by an even more substantial margin.
But he seems wholly unconcerned with her hormone levels or gender identity.
Urbaś went on to claim officials' failure to invade Mboma's privacy and bodily autonomy by examining her genitals will endanger other athletes.
"We will continue to think that she is fair and equal, and it is a clear and insolent injustice against women who are definitely women."
World Athletics, the governing body that manages track and field competitions has repeatedly banned women athletes with higher testosterone levels—nearly all of them Black women—from competition, most infamously South African runner Castor Semenya.
They argue naturally higher testosterone levels give women a competitive advantage. But these tests are virtually never leveled against men.
Michael Phelps, for just one example, has multiple competitive advantages over other swimmers that have helped him win, like his large hands and feet.
He has never been scrutinized or disqualified for his natural advantages over other swimmers and is considered by many to be the best swimmer of all time.
Urbaś' claims have left many outraged citing their ignorant, racist, misogynistic and transphobic nature.
Urbaś is not alone in his anger over Mboma.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who put in place the rules disqualifying Mboma from competing in the 400-meter event, is considering extending them to the 200-meter because of what he too sees as Mboma's unfair advantage.
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