NEU » e past two summers with Class AA San

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The young athlete, now competing at the Rio Games, always considered herself to be a girl just like the others, a girl who loved to run. Then the governing body of track and field told her she was different, so different that her track career could be over.Marked confidential and signed best sporting regards, the letter outlined a choice for the athlete: Open herself up to a panel of medical experts who could recommend surgery or chemical treatment to reduce her testosterone levels or stop competing.She had fallen foul of International Association of Athletics Federations rules aimed at providing a level playing field for women by keeping out athletes with high testosterone, a naturally occurring strength-building hormone.Writing to the man who ran track and field in the athletes country, the IAAFs medical director at the time explained that blood and urine tests detected testosterone levels that were abnormally high for a woman. The suspected cause, wrote Dr. Gabriel Dolle, wasnt doping but another hot-button issue in athletics that is likely to flare in this final week of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics: hyperandrogenism.Had the athlete not been a runner, she might never have known of her condition. It was flagged by the IAAFs tests that look for banned drugs. She was stunned and uncomprehending when told that her testosterone pointed to hyperandrogenism, her then-coach told The Associated Press.She couldnt understand. It was shock, the coach said. I said, Youre not alone. There are others.Thus started a months-long process of medical scrutiny, trips to foreign clinics for batteries of tests and potentially life-changing choices shrouded in medical secrecy that makes it hard to investigate the IAAFs treatment of hyperandrogenic women.The AP will not name the athlete, the country she is competing for, or give details, including racing achievements, that could help identify her. In messages with the AP, she said she is focusing on competition and that her story is personal and private.The IAAF letter and exclusive AP interview with the athletes former coach, who was intimately involved in her eventual decision to agree to testosterone-curbing treatment, shed unprecedented light on the inner workings of the IAAF process that at least 14 women have gone through.The unwilling face of this complex and excruciatingly sensitive issue, Caster Semenya, will race in Rio starting Wednesday and likely win gold in the 800 meters. Believed to be hyperandrogenic, outed as physiologically different without her consent when she won the world championship in the 800 in 2009, the South Africans dominance has again pushed to the fore divisive questions about whether allowing women to compete with testosterone levels far above the female norm is fair and whether the hormones attributed performance-enhancing effects are significantly greater than other natural gifts, like height for basketball players or big feet for swimmers.It is not publicly known how many hyperandrogenic women are competing in Rio, but a study published in 2014 by Dolle and other medical experts calculated that seven out of 1,000 elite female athletes may be hyperandrogenic, 140 times higher than expected among the general population. Hyperandrogenism is a medical condition that causes a person to produce high levels of hormones and can be caused by differences in sexual development.Having not withstood a legal challenge brought by another female athlete at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the IAAF regulations are on hold, suspended by the CAS since July 2015. That means hyperandrogenic women can compete in Rio without having to artificially control their testosterone levels.The CAS case was brought by Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter who challenged the rules after she was suspended and who, like Semenya, saw intimate medical details become fodder for public debate.God wanted to bring a change [in the rules] through me, Chand told the AP before competing in 100-meter qualifying Friday.Speaking as fast as she runs, the sprinter said she has put the ordeal behind her and is relishing the Olympic experience. She longs to meet Usain Bolt.By the time I came to know about my problems, the issue already was out in the open, the 20-year-old said. Everyone supported me. I dont worry about what has happened in the past.The coach who spoke to the AP praised Chands resistance against the IAAF rules, saying: Thank goodness that there were courageous people who protested.To avoid identifying the athlete, the AP will not identify the coach. As her confidant during the process, the coach was involved in her decision-making, including choosing hormone therapy instead of surgery to lower her testosterone. The IAAF letter says the coach was present during a meeting with a federation representative when a follow-up sample was taken from the athlete to confirm the diagnosis of hyperandrogenism.The IAAF letter explaining the medical process facing the athlete was provided to the AP by a former federation representative who was involved in the implementation of the hyperandrogenism regulations. The governing body introduced them in 2011 after the furor that followed Semenyas world title in Berlin. There was widespread criticism of track officials handling of her case, including leaking without her consent that she had undergone sex testing. I have been subjected to unwarranted and invasive scrutiny of the most intimate and private details of my being, Semenya subsequently complained.The APs source said the IAAF regulations were ensnaring athletes from developing countries with little education or the financial means to contest the rules and forcing them to either accept medical treatment or stop competing. The AP is not naming the former federation official because he wasnt authorized to release the letter.During the IAAF process, the athlete could not compete. The coach explained her absence by lying that she was injured.The first IAAF-requested tests to determine the exact nature of her condition required a trip to another nations capital, where she was met by Dolle. That was followed by two trips to a clinic in Nice, France, all paid for by the IAAF, the coach said.The first Nice trip was accompanied, but the second, lasting over a week, was not because the IAAF did not want to pay for someone to go with her, said the coach.I didnt want her to go alone. She didnt speak French very well. I was afraid she wouldnt understand, the coach said. I said, Before you take any medicine, call me. Dont take anything. The doctors say, Its for her good. And I thought to myself, `Shes fine as she is.... They said, `Were doing tests to help you. Maybe they gave her details, but she didnt understand. She just knew that they were saying she had to have the tests to come back to track, and she accepted because that is what they wanted.After the second Nice trip, subsequent correspondence from Dolle offered the athlete two choices: surgery or medicinal treatment, said the coach. The coach urged her not to go under the surgeons knife, fearing the irreversible effects.I said to her, We cant take this risk, cut things off that God gave you, the coach said. When things are cut off, its forever. You cant get those parts back.Other athletes consented to surgery. Doctors in Nice reported in 2013 that they operated on four hyperandrogenic women, ages 18 to 21 and from rural or mountainous regions of developing countries, cutting out gonads and partially removing their clitorises. The athletes were told that surgery would most likely dent their athletic performances but allow them to continue competing, the doctors reported. They said the women were allowed to resume competition one year later.The coach said the rules discriminate against women because there arent equivalent rules for men.It punishes women because there is no law that bans some men because they are more manly than others, the coach said.The coach lamented a lack of detailed information from the IAAF about the surgery or medicinal therapy.Youre told just that it is bringing your level down to the level of other women, the coach said.The athlete continued to train while suspended.She was desperate to run, the coach said. She kept saying, Im taking the medicine. Why cant I run?Side effects from the treatment included weight gain and making the athlete smell awful, sweaty and dirty, even though she stayed clean and wore deodorant and perfume, the coach said. The smell vanished when she came off the treatment, the coach added.The treatment was administered by a doctor in her country who reported back to the IAAF. The treatment did not lead to a huge dip in her running performances.When the IAAF eventually gave the athlete the green light to resume competing, she was delighted, the coach said. But the CAS only suspended the regulations, rather than overturning them entirely, giving the IAAF until July 2017 to produce evidence that high testosterone gives hyperandrogenic women a significant performance advantage.She is free, but she is scared that from one day to the next they could stop her from running again, the coach said. Shes in limbo, waiting for something bad to happen. She asks, Are they going to stop me again? Are they going to make me take more medicine?Chuck Sieminski . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Bob Young . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. https://www.cheapnfljerseyschina.co/ ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Authentic . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Henry Thomas . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League.WASHINGTON -- Monique Currie, Jazmon Gwathmey and Astou Ndour scored 16 points each and the San Antonio Stars beat the Washington Mystics 85-74 on Sunday to end a six-game losing streak.San Antonio (6-19) outscored the Mystics 26-6 in the second quarter, including nine straight points to end the half up 43-20.Washington (10-16) opened the second half on a 16-4 run to pull to 47-36 in the middle of the third quarter. The Stars responded with four straiight points and led by no less than eight from there.ddddddddddddMoriah Jefferson added 15 points and nine assists, and Kayla Alexander had 12 points for the Stars.Tayler Hill was 5 of 10 from 3-point range and led the Mystics with 26 points. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt added 17 points, Stefanie Dolson had 11 and Emma Meesseman 10. ' ' '