Posted: Jun 08, 2019 7:38 pm
Thommo wrote:
The point of having women's sport is the benefits it affords (primarily to women and girls).
No. The benefits afforded are those afforded by sport. Women's sport is just sport but restricted to a set of people that can't compete with the fastest athletes. That is not a criticism, just a fact. A fact you yourself were just highlighting.
Sport has benefits, segregation by ability is needed have good competitions. Flyweight boxers can't compete with heavyweights, no matter how hard they train.
Segregating by sex is, has always been, the practical way to define those categories for many sports.
But maybe there are other, possibly better, ways to do it.
Thommo wrote:
Although this follows on from what seems a spurious assumption or two, it seems exceptionally dubious in itself anyway. Can you actually name any single factor which makes a comparable 10-12% performance difference to testosterone at the 400m, 800m, 1500m or mile events?
Of course. I should think Height would be that significant in long distance and highjump. Weight plays a big factor in all sorts of contact sports. A weightlifter might be very fit and strong but probably won't do well as a sprinter or a marathon runner.
Phelps has been mentioned in this context as having some particular traits that give him a significant wege over most swimmers.