海角大神

Is it right to require someone to take drugs to compete in international sports? On Wednesday the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport said yes, ruling that the world鈥檚 top middle-distance runner, South African Caster Semenya, must suppress her naturally high testosterone levels to run in women鈥檚 races.

The court, it must be said, didn鈥檛 appear overly pleased with its own decision. It fully admitted that the rule was discriminatory but said the discrimination was necessary to uphold the integrity of women鈥檚 events.

The ruling on one hand evoked outrage. 鈥淪houldn鈥檛 Semenya鈥檚 physical abilities be celebrated the same way as Usain Bolt鈥檚 height and Michael Phelps鈥檚 wingspan are?鈥� . Yet the ruling is also a natural outgrowth of another trend: the increasing emphasis on biology in elite sports.

If testosterone levels or red-blood-cell counts are the ultimate arbiter of athletic achievement, then the discrimination against Ms. Semenya would seem to have some basis. But is that all there is to sport? Ms. Semenya is also just a woman who loves to run fast and who has become an inspiration in her homeland.

As this case shows, these issues can be difficult and nuanced. But the years ahead point to them becoming only more poignant.

Now for our five stories of the day. We examine how existential fears are changing the behavior of Iran鈥檚 regime, a more human look into the first days of slavery in America, and how geeks took over the entertainment world.