Cut From Yahoo News:
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Transsexuals were cleared Monday to compete in the Olympics for the first time.
Under a proposal approved by the IOC executive board, athletes who have undergone sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if their new gender has been legally recognized and they have gone through a minimum two-year period of postoperative hormone therapy.
The decision, which covers both male-to-female and female-to-male cases, goes into effect starting with the Athens Olympics in August.
The IOC had put off a decision in February, saying more time was needed to consider all the medical issues.
Some members had been concerned whether male-to-female transsexuals would have physical advantages competing against women.
Men have higher levels of testosterone and greater muscle-to-fat ratio and heart and lung capacity. However, doctors say, testosterone levels and muscle mass drop after hormone therapy and sex-change surgery.
IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said the situation of transsexuals competing in high-level sports was "rare but becoming more common."
IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch said no specific sports had been singled out by the ruling.
"Any sport may be touched by this problem," he said. "Until now, we didn't have any rules or regulations. We needed to establish some sort of policy."
Until 1999, the IOC conducted gender verification tests at the Olympics but the screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games.
One of the best known cases of transsexuals in sports involves Renee Richards, formerly Richard Raskind, who played on the women's tennis tour in the 1970s.
In March, Australia's Mianne Bagger became the first transsexual to play in a pro golf tournament.
Michelle Dumaresq, formerly Michael, has competed in mountain bike racing for Canada.
Richards, now a New York opthamologist, was surprised by the IOC decision and was against it. She said decisions on transsexuals should be made on an individual basis.
"Basically, I think they're making a wrong judgment here, although I would have loved to have that judgment made in my case in 1976," she said.
"They're probably looking for trouble down the line. There may be a true transsexual — not someone who's nuts and wants to make money — who will be a very good champion player, and it will be a young person, let's say a Jimmy Connors or a Tiger Woods, and then they'll have an unequal playing field.
"In some sports, the physical superiority of men over women is very significant."
Former Member
Lindsay, I take back everything I ever said or thought about you!:D Just kidding....I agree with your last post whole heartedly about the way Masters is set up! And I hope it stays that way! Keep competition designed as a means to an end....to better ones self!
Originally posted by tjburk
Howard, if you go back and look at Lindsay's original post, i.e. "oops" it could be taken as a slam against US, she has since edited the post to clarify what she meant.
I read the whole thing and think if you want to see it as a slam to the USA then you will. I didn't/don't see it as a slam to any particular country. Lindsay was pointing out that there may not be any benefits. How that is perceived as a slam to the USA is a mystery to me.
The resulting comments directed at Canada show no class. It doesn't help and adds nothing pertinent to the discussion.
Originally posted by tjburk
Howard, if you go back and look at Lindsay's original post, i.e. "oops" it could be taken as a slam against US, he has since edited the post to clarify what he meant.
Just for completeness, the edit of the post was confined to adding the comment in [] I did not change any of the original wording. In retrospect it would have been better to use "one" where I used "you" but I am still surprised that one would interpret the fourth example as applying to the USA as in the previous discussion it was always assumed that it would be some totalitarian former-East-German-type state that would take advantage of the rule change. I hope no one took the first three examples as personal slams!
Originally posted by tjburk
Ok, other than Geek (he's always joking around like that) where are the "Slams" against Canada? I didn't slam Canada, who did?
Either I am losing my mind even faster than I realized (go ahead, I realize how open I'm leaving myself with that one! :D ) OR
The posters have removed their posts
OR
The moderators have removed some posts.
Hopefully one of the latter two!
Lindsay!!! And I say this with a smile, and am laughing...you know what happens when we assume things
Yup, all too well. :D
Originally posted by tjburk
Ok, other than Geek (he's always joking around like that) where are the "Slams" against Canada? I didn't slam Canada, who did?
I'll drop it. Geek is joking and that makes it OK.
Let's cut to the chase here...The word YOUR makes that a slam...As in, YOUR...... being the USA.
tjburk, LindsayNB is M not F...as listed in his USMS info section....
