The humiliation of USADA, USATF, and the sport of running

Ross Tucker: "I think once you lose your grip on the reality of biological sex, the reality of doping is probably easily lost, too."

The Washington Post wrote a long, breathless article about runner Cal Calamia receiving a Therapeutic Use Exemption for testosterone, an event the Post characterized as a historic first, a victory for nonbinary and trans athletes.

That may be, but that victory has come at the cost of the legitimacy of the US Anti-Doping Agency, USA Track & Field, the Chicago Marathon, and the countless other race organizations, large and small, that have bought into gender ideology by creating a nonbinary category. Them’s big talk, for sure, but the Washington Post was right about one thing—this incident goes way beyond Cal Calamia. It demonstrates how the most powerful organizations in the sport of running, organizations that brought down the likes of Lance Armstrong and Alberto Salazar, are now groveling before the cult of gender ideology.

First, some background. In early July, I wrote a post entitled USADA pretends there are sexless runners because female runner Cal Calamia, who identifies as nonbinary transmasculine, made TikTok videos and blabbed to every media who would listen about taking testosterone as part of her gender-affirming regimen. In early October, Calamia once again took to social media, saying USADA had paid her a visit, because it turns out, she didn’t have a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to use testosterone, a performance enhancing drug, as USADA had intimated (lack of transparency is a huge problem for USADA) in July. Calamia was stressed like crazy, not, as one might assume, out of any sense of wrong doing which might beset a person who had run through college, had heard of Lance Armstrong, and had to know that testosterone was a no-no for athletes. No. Calamia was stressed at having to apply for a TUE like any other athlete (and we’ll get to why she didn’t actually have to stoop to the level of any other athlete, below). Calamia assumed that being nonbinary transmasculine, the rules did not apply to her. Finally, one day before she was set to run this year’s Chicago Marathon in the nonbinary category, she received a TUE to use testosterone as long as she ran in male, nonbinary, or open categories.

Before we get into how she received that TUE, something from the Washington Post article jumped out at me. Calamia started taking testosterone around May 2019, and in October 2019 ran the Chicago Marathon in the female category because the race did not yet have a nonbinary category. The TUE she just received was back dated by USADA to June 2022. Not 2019. That means Calamia, a female running in the female category, was using testosterone without a TUE. That seems a clear doping violation.

I have asked USADA to explain why that is not a doping violation. I’ve not gotten an answer.

While Calamia’s 2019 shenanigans should have been a nonstarter for ever receiving a TUE, let’s delve into how that shady miracle did happen. First off, the Washington Post failed to mention that Calamia had significant legal muscle behind her application process. She was represented by Winston & Strawn LLP, a global rainbow law firm that takes trans rights cases and also represents major biopharma clients. It’s unusual for an athlete to enlist legal aid in applying for a TUE. This hulking, knuckle-cracking backing seemed to give Calamia a very cavalier attitude, a swagger, you might say, in her application process. As if she knew she would get the TUE no matter how outrageous or disrespectful her behavior.

Back in July, USADA told me, “One of the key criteria [for granting a TUE] is whether there will be a performance enhancing benefit if the TUE is granted. If there is one, then it will not be granted or will be limited to certain categories or only for certain uses.” For the question of performance enhancing benefit, I turned to sport scientist Ross Tucker.

According to the Washington Post, Calamia is taking enough testosterone to reach the lower end of the normal male range, and is obviously exhibiting many male traits, including facial hair. Ross Tucker wrote in an email: “In this study, women were given quite small amounts of testosterone, well below any masculinising levels, sufficient only to raise T levels to 4.3, and for only ten weeks.  Their performances in sprints improved significantly. In another study which was actually taken secretly from the infamous East German system, women were taking enough testosterone to develop masculinizing features. It documented enormous improvements. Cal is without doubt enhancing performance with testosterone.” 

Another factor USADA considers in granting a TUE is medical need. USADA assured me, they have never granted a TUE to a woman who is competing in the female category. That includes the miniscule amount in Hormone Replacement Therapy used by menopausal women. So USADA understands there is no medical need UNLESS they accept that their role is to support gender identity, an idea in someone’s head that is utterly unverifiable and has no relevance to sports performance. And they have accepted that role.

USADA has agreed to play along with some people’s delusions. They’ve already granted TUEs for testosterone to female athletes who identify as male, like Chris Mosier. Calamia, though, competes in the nonbinary category that includes females who don’t use testosterone, males who normally pump out industrial levels of testosterone, and males who may suppress their testosterone. While Mosier, even T-ed up, has no advantage in the male category, Calamia competes in a category where her testosterone use could provide an unfair advantage. It’s quibbling, really because USADA has already swallowed the gender ideology kool-aid.

But to maintain some appearance of legitimacy, they require some paperwork—according to the Washington Post, “a complete medical history, including psychological records and medical notes, establishing a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.” It seems reasonable to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to establish a medical need for an illegal substance, but the Washington Post reported that Calamia felt “disheartened,” that this was “too invasive,” and that USADA was “overstepping.” So Calamia left the boxes indicating sex (male or female) empty, and didn’t include any of the required paperwork in her application. On top of that, in defiance of USADA’s request that she not race while her application was under review, Calamia entered the Philadelphia Distance Run in September, where she placed fourth in the nonbinary category in a personal best time (which she’s been hitting nearly every go from the gate) and earned $250. It almost seemed like she knew she would get the TUE, despite giving USADA a big metaphorical finger. And she did. Why? Calamia had what seems a clear doping violation from 2019. Calamia followed none of the required protocol, that other athletes are required to do, and still received a TUE for an illegal drug that without doubt provides performance enhancement.

To make USADA’s humiliation complete, Calamia told the Washington Post she intends to have a sit down with USADA to discuss their “invasive” TUE process.

USADA has only one line of defense, and that is to blame USATF and the race organization, in this case, the Chicago Marathon, for creating a nonbinary category in the first place. And they have a point there—it was an incredibly stupid and poorly thought out decision. Recall USADA’s statement that a TUE might be granted even if it provided performance enhancement in certain categories. Using extremely twisty logic, USADA claims that by creating a nonbinary category and the eligibility criteria for that category—which comes down to ticking off the nonbinary box—USATF tells USADA that though these people may be female, they have identified as nonbinary, so they can use testosterone in the nonbinary category if USADA says it’s medically necessary. And since USADA has already accepted their role as a handmaiden of gender ideology, they’re happy to say that a female needs male levels of testosterone so that she can be nonbinary transmasculine, whatever that means. In this way, both of these large, powerful organizations can push the blame for what they know to be ridiculous BS onto the other—you started it, no you did, no you did—while they surrender any legitimacy they may have had, and reduce the sport to a joke. Impressive.

In fact, Calamia, perhaps because an adherent of gender ideology sees logic in absurdity, came close to the truth when she told the Washington Post, “To create a running division that welcomes nonbinary and trans runners, only to disqualify them for seeking gender-affirming medical care, would not have made sense.”

It does not make sense because there should be no nonbinary category in the first place.

And here, I return to the imminently sensible Ross Tucker: “It seems the obvious issue here is with the ridiculous nature of a non-binary category, as though gender identity should matter for sports performance.  We know that sport is about biology, so the male versus female difference matters, not identity. However, sport has lost its compass on this matter, and so have allowed gender to be recognised, and then have tried to accommodate it in this non-binary category, but nobody seems to have thought through whether that category should have the same rules as every other one. I think once you lose your grip on the reality of biological sex, the reality of doping is probably easily lost, too.

That’s the heart of the matter. If you can’t agree on reality, if you base sport on something that’s not real, the whole idea of sport falls apart. You can’t have rules, you can’t have fairness, or agreed on definitions. For example, Calamia claims she is nonbinary transmasculine. What does that mean? I looked it up. According to nonbinary wiki: “Transmasculine, sometimes abbreviated to transmasc, is an umbrella term that describes a transgender person (generally, but not exclusively, one who was assigned female at birth), and whose gender is masculine and/or who express themselves in a masculine way. Transmasculine people feel a connection with masculinity, but do not always identify as a man. Transmasculine people don't always need to be referred to as "he/him" or as a man. Some transmasculine people use "they/them", "he/they", and sometimes even "she/her" pronouns. Transmasculine people may include, but are not limited to:

• Binary trans men

• Nonbinary men

• Demiboys

• Multigender people

• Genderfluid people who identify as masculine more often than other genders.

• Nonbinary people, as long as they identify with masculinity.

In the real world, Cal Calamia is a female who is getting performance enhancing benefit from a prohibited substance. In a world captured by gender ideology, Calamia is a pioneer, a trailblazer, breaking down barriers of reality, promoting the primacy of identity (an idea in one person’s head) over sex (reality), where the only truth that matters is your own. Sport falls apart in that world, as we’ve seen by the public degradation of USADA, of USATF, and some of the most venerated race organizations in the world.