Recently, one of the most discussed topics in athletics was the performance at the competitions of athletes with a high content of male sex hormones. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has already introduced a ceiling for testosterone in women's bodies to participate in tournaments, but this decision has caused a serious resonance in the sports community.
At the center of the scandal was the world-famous runner Caster Semenya, who, because of this law, risks losing the opportunity to continue his sports career. In early June, the Federal Court of Switzerland granted the appeal of the two-time Olympic champion and allowed her and other athletes to participate in competitions, but the end in this matter has not yet been made.
However, an incident occurred in Kenya that risks overshadowing the situation around the Seed. So, it became known that the long-distance runner Schieus Chepkosgey, who specializes in long-distance training, is actually a man. For many years, she performed at international competitions, won medals and passed tests for the presence of prohibited drugs. So, in 2015, traces of testosterone, androsterone, and etoicholanone were found in her blood, as a result of which she was disqualified for four years. At the same time, the doping officers did not find that they were dealing with an athlete of the opposite sex.
This became known only on Tuesday under very strange circumstances. Chepkosgei was detained in a hospital in the Kenyan city of Eldoret. At the time of her arrest, she tried to impersonate herself as an employee of the facility: she was dressed in a nurse's robe and performed the duties of an intern in the emergency room. At the same time determine the impostor helped hospital staff. Schieis's face seemed unfamiliar to them, and they also noticed that the name tag did not contain a name they did not know.
As it turned out later, Chepkosgei introduced herself as Pamela Mulupi, but later it was established that there were no nurses in the hospital with such name and surname. As a result, the staff of the institution called the police to the scene, which detained Schieus.
"The police are going to find out for what purpose the suspect was in the hospital," - quotes The Star hospital director Dr. Wilson Aruasu.
The law enforcement officers sent Chepkosgei to the local women's prison, but she stayed there for only a day. During the examination, a male sexual organ was found in the woman.
The man was returned to court. There he confessed that his real name is Hillary Kiprotich, and also told why he was posing as a woman.
“I was born a man, but when I registered for a speech at competitions, I declared that I was a woman,” Kiprotich confessed in court.
It was decided to leave the suspect under surveillance at the Eldoret police station.
According to investigators, documents were addressed to Kiprotich in the name of Schieus Chepkosgei, with the help of which he had misled the organizers of the competition for a long time. During this time, the athlete managed to speak at many international competitions, including marathons in Malaysia, Morocco and Tanzania. At the moment, on his account appear three gold medals, one of which was won at a tournament in Zambia.
The trial of Kiprotich will take place on Friday, June 21. In this case, the suspect will have to return to the hospital again, this time to undergo an in-depth medical examination. Such a decision was made by the Chief Justice Charles Obuluts.
The Kenya Athletics Federation was aware of the situation with Kiprotich, but so far refrained from commenting on this topic and has not issued official press releases.