The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week avatar

Dexa/The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

Learn more
Published Jul 17, 2024

Olympic Tug-o-War, Leaping Leeches, Card-Carrying Women

Explore the eclectic history of Olympic tug-of-war, the recent transformation of the modern pentathlon, the leaping leech mystery, and the controversial saga of gender testing in sports. Join Rachel Feltman and Jessica Boddy as they unravel the quirky past and evolving dynamics of these captivating athletic topics.
Episode Highlights
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week logo

Topics covered

Popular Clips

Episode Highlights

  • History

    The history of gender verification in sports is fraught with controversy and questionable practices. explains that from 1968 to 1999, every female Olympic athlete was required to undergo chromosome testing to confirm their gender, a practice that was both invasive and humiliating 1. This period, known as the "nude parades," involved athletes being examined to ensure their bodies conformed to female standards, a process that was deeply unpopular among competitors 2. Rose highlights the absurdity of these tests, noting, "We shouldn't be doing this based on suspicion...but instead of just being like, maybe we should just not have a policy in which we're examining women to see if they're women, they were like, no, no. Now we must examine all of them, every single one."

    We shouldn't be doing this based on suspicion...but instead of just being like, maybe we should just not have a policy in which we're examining women to see if they're women, they were like, no, no. Now we must examine all of them, every single one.

    ---

    The tests were justified by fears of men masquerading as women to win medals, a scenario that never actually occurred at the elite level 1.

       

    Experiences

    Personal accounts from athletes subjected to gender verification reveal the emotional toll these policies took. shares stories of women who were told they failed these tests, often without any clear explanation, leading to their exclusion from competition 3. The fear of being labeled "borderline" between male and female was pervasive, and athletes sometimes went to great lengths, such as faking injuries, to avoid public scrutiny 4. Rose describes the bizarre belief in the "balance theory," where it was thought that women could "turn into men" through athletic exertion, reflecting the era's misunderstanding of gender and sex.

    Clearly, they were on the borderline between men and women in this balance theory idea. And if you allow them to compete and exert themselves and be competitive and kind of do all these things, they're actually going to tip over and turn into men.

    ---

    These narratives underscore the flawed logic and damaging impact of gender verification policies on athletes' lives and careers 3.

Related Episodes