The closing of the Paris Olympics is upon us, and amidst glory and valor, there were few moments as dividing as the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting. The two faced constant criticism, hate comments, and questions about their skills and abilities, all brushed under the rug of higher testosterone levels or failing gender eligibility tests. While their medals shone brighter than the scathing jibes, their condition echoed struggles that a former champion faced some 12 years ago. And she continues to endure the same to date.

Caster Semenya of South Africa broke out on the scene early, at 18, winning the World Championships in 2009 in the 800m. However, immediately after her moment of grandeur, darkness soon engulfed her, as she was made to undergo sex testing, sparking controversy worldwide. While that didn’t deter her spirit, it broke her soul. The center of the controversy was her intersex condition: 5α-Reductase 2 deficiency and naturally higher testosterone levels. Soon, the critics shunned the South African athlete as a male. But that wasn’t the worst.

Semenya, who won gold in 800m at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, was made to use medicines that suppress testosterone levels in the body by the IAAF. That affected her mental and physical health, breaking her down. The middle-distance runner had a jarring experience, as she also suffered from regular fevers and constant internal abdominal pain. The cycle of excruciating pain and the medication to alter and control her body lasted until 2015 when she had enough.

The Petersberg native had narrated her experience as she had admitted, “The IAAF used me in the past as a human guinea pig to experiment with how the medication they required me to take would affect my testosterone levels.” But the situation only took an ugly turn when World Athletics mandated athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) and suppressed their testosterone levels to compete at 400m, 800m, and 1500m. And Semenya said no.

“I will not allow the IAAF to use me and my body again. But I am concerned that other female athletes will feel compelled to let the IAAF drug them. And test the effectiveness and negative health effects of different hormonal drugs. This cannot be allowed to happen,” she added. Semenya, now 33, continues her fight against new rules, citing them as discriminatory. So, when the two-time Olympic champion witnessed what happened with Khelif and Yu-ting, she could see the parallels.

Caster Semenya finds her reflection in Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting

Semenya spoke her heart out in a conversation with SportsBoom.com and touched upon the debacle concerning Khelif and Yu-ting. The 3-time world champion responded, “Sport is for all people and the constitution says no to discrimination. But the minute they allowed women to be disgraced, it confuses us.”

The public laid bare Khelif’s personal and private life, subjecting it to scrutiny and evoking the same emotion. While the Algerian boxer ended up winning gold, the ghastly attacks on her will remain clouded in her mind forever. She shared her side of the turmoil with SNTV and disclosed, “This has effects, massive effects. It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit, and mind. It can divide people.”

If there are demands of walking the hard line of biology and genetics, it almost always is drawn in women’s sports. And that’s discriminatory in itself. How do you see the Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting controversy at the Olympics? Do you believe it’s something that will continue to plague women’s boxing? Let us know in the comments below.