London - The governing body of world athletics would prefer it if Caster Semenya was not here in London denying Laura Muir a medal. At least not the way she is, essentially the way she was born.
They would rather she went away and had hormone replacement therapy, perhaps even surgery if that is what is required for her to meet the criteria for competing as a woman.
Semenya has hyperandrogenism, a medical condition characterised by excessive levels of male sex hormones such as testosterone, and the governing body of world athletics are trying to convince the Court of Arbitration for Sport that athletes like her have an unfair advantage.
Their argument is based on a new scientific study which concludes that the condition could provide a 1.8 per cent advantage in an 800 metres race, which corresponds at the elite female level to a fraction more than two seconds.
If you are already feeling uneasy about the morality of telling someone what gender they are based only on their levels of naturally occurring hormones then consider the fact that only last week Semenya, in anticipation of her appearance here in London, had to state in an interview that she "pees like a woman".
Sadly it does not come close to the most humiliating moment in a career that, prior to last week, had already included two Olympic and two world titles.
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When she won her first world title in Berlin in 2009 at the age of 18, she had to endure being called a man by a rival, and the news that the IAAF intended to have her gender-tested once the championships were over was leaked.
"She is a woman, but maybe not 100 percent," declared Pierre Weiss, then the general secretary of the organisation.
Lynsey Sharp, the British 800m runner who has lost out to Semenya on several occasions, has been extremely vocal on the subject, even writing her university dissertation on the subject of hyperandrogenism.
Seemingly nobody stops to think how hurtful this might be to another human being, someone who has a family, and in Semenya’s case a loving wife.
More admirable than Semenya’s running ability is her ability to withstand the cruel, deeply personal scrutiny and keep performing at the highest level.
The IAAF’s previous attempt to introduce a testosterone policy ultimately proved unsuccessful when CAS ruled that it should be suspended for two years in 2015.
Now, however, Lord Coe and his organisation have a new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Stephane Bermon, who led the research from the Monaco Institute of Sports Medicine and Surgery, has confidently declared the issue resolved. "This study brings new evidence of the performance-enhancing effects of androgens in elite female athletes," he said. "Although long suspected, until now there was no proof."
There remains a problem, however, with the study when there is a compelling argument for testosterone levels being treated like any other physical attribute.
Roger Pielke Jr, the director of the Sports Governance Centre at the University of Colorado, is about to publish his own paper on the condition. Speaking to The Evening Standard last week, he said the IAAF’s research paper "doesn’t change anything".
He added: "Elite athletes by and large are rare biological humans in all sorts of respects, yet the only one we’re trying to regulate is this one. I don’t have sympathy for the other athletes. Usain Bolt’s unfair. He has genetics that others don’t. I play basketball against guys who are two metres tall and that’s not fair."
Pielke is right. Michael Phelps was born with unusually long limbs. Adam Peaty has double-jointed ankles. One could go on.
Paula Radcliffe was blessed with physiology that made her a quick marathon runner but as a member of the IAAF athletes’ commission she appears to be siding with the governing body.
She accepts it is a "delicate issue" but says ‘the decision has to be made with the human rights of the majority of athletes rather than one person’. Never mind that Semenya’s human rights are being seriously violated.
Semenya is quick. Her time of 1 min 55.27sec in Monaco last month was the fastest by a woman over 800m for almost a decade. It does, however, remain two seconds adrift of Jarmila Kratochvilova’s world record and is less than a second quicker than the British record set by Kelly Holmes 22 years ago.
As the New York Times noted, it is also worth comparing Semenya’s best to Radcliffe’s world marathon record. The Briton is 10 percent down on the men. Semenya is 12.
Just leave the poor woman alone and let her run.