SPORTS ETHICS24 JUL 2026Toxic sports reporting on black athletesThe BBC’s coverage of the Women’s Tennis Association’s new genetic sex testing policy, using visuals of a black woman’s hand, highlights a pattern where stories about fairness in…Lelo Mzaca7 min read

The BBC’s coverage of the Women’s Tennis Association’s new policy requiring genetic sex testing for players uses visuals from Getty Images of a black woman’s hand. This illustrates a pattern where stories about fairness in women’s categories often visually centre athletes of African descent. High-profile DSD (Differences of Sex Development) cases, such as South Africa’s Caster Semenya in 2009 after she remarkably won gold in the 800 metres at the World Championships in Berlin with a time of 1:55.45 in the final, Namibia’s Christine Mboma and others from sub-Saharan Africa, frequently dominate headlines.

Biological sex categories in sport exist because males who go through puberty typically develop significant advantages in strength, speed, muscle mass, bone density and cardiovascular capacity due to higher testosterone exposure. World Athletics, WTA and other bodies have moved toward stricter rules based on the SRY gene (on the Y chromosome) to define eligibility for the female category. DSD conditions (for example, 5-alpha-reductase deficiency or partial androgen insensitivity) can result in individuals raised as female having XY chromosomes, internal testes and elevated testosterone, conferring performance edges in certain events.

Data from World Athletics indicates DSD athletes (often from what they point to specific African regions due to higher prevalence of certain genetic variants) have been over-represented in elite finals far beyond population expectations. These are not “cheats” in the intentional doping sense. Many athletes like Semenya were assigned female at birth, identify as women and competed under prior legitimate rules.

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However, governing bodies argue that retaining male-typical advantages undermines fair play for the vast majority of female athletes with typical XX development. Who are they to judge what a typical XX development is because natural women come in different kinds and developments? Policies requiring suppression of testosterone or genetic confirmation are said to aim to protect the category, not target race.

Prevalence of certain DSDs varies geographically and genetically, which are aimed to justify why some stories feature black athletes more prominently, not because of media racism but demographics of cases. European media, including the BBC, reports these stories because they involve major competitions, legal battles (Semenya’s cases at CAS, Swiss courts, ECHR) and policy shifts by international federations such as World Athletics. Under the leadership of World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, the organisation implemented strict eligibility rules for athletes with DSD.

These regulations barred Semenya from her preferred racing distances (400m to one mile) without testosterone-suppressing medication. This has led to a lengthy, ongoing legal battle. The Getty image choice may reflect stock availability or visual relevance to prominent athletes but it may be as emblematic of selective framing. The 1988 Seoul Olympics 100m final is infamous as “the dirtiest race in history” because six of the eight finalists were either implicated in or tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during their careers.

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