"They say I'm not a girl" : case studies of gender verification in elite sports

Max Dohle

In July 1950, a young Dutch intersex woman was expelled from elite competition by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. It turned out to be the beginning of a dark era in the history of women in sport. Dozens of intersex athletes were suspended, although no fraud was ever uncovered. Suspension had pernicious effects on their lives. They hardly appeared in public, lived in solitude, committed suicide or attempted to. Biographies of these banned athletes highlight the unfair play of gender verification and of their exclusion from competition.