Annet Negesa (born 24 April 1992) is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n former

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

who specialised in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. She broke Ugandan national records in the 800 m and the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

as a teenager and was a three-time national champion at the Ugandan Athletics Championships. She represented her country at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

and was the 800 m gold medallist at the

2011 All-Africa Games The 10th All-Africa Games (), also known as Maputo 2010, took place between September 3–18, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo's hosting marked the third time the Games was held in the southern part of the continent. Host awarding In April 20 ...

. As a junior (under-20) athlete, she won a team bronze medal at the

2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in ...

, an 800 m bronze at the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

, and two gold medals at the

2011 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships were held at the University of Botswana Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana from 12 to 15 May. It was the tenth edition of the continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger ...

. She was named 2011 Athlete of the Year by

Uganda Athletics Federation Uganda Athletic Federation (UAF) is a World Athletics recognised member officially representing Uganda as the sports governing body, national governing body for the sport of Athletics (sport), Athletics. History The country of Uganda gained indepe ...

. Negesa has an XY

disorder of sex development Disorders of sex development (DSDs), also known as differences in sex development, variations in sex characteristics (VSC), sexual anomalies, or sexual abnormalities, are Congenital disorder, congenital conditions affecting the Human reproductive ...

and a natural

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

level in the male range. Under rules set by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

(IAAF), she had to reduce her testosterone levels in order to compete in the women's category. Facing pressure to continue her career, she underwent a

gonadectomy Gonadectomy, the removal of the gonads, may refer to: * Orchiectomy, removal of the testicles * Castration, removal of the use of the testicles, including by chemical means * Oophorectomy Oophorectomy (; from Greek , , 'egg-bearing' and , , 'a ...

, a procedure to remove internal testes in 2012. Negesa later said the purpose of the surgery had been misrepresented to her, having been compared to an "injection". The inadequate medical aftercare and physical and mental damage resulting from the surgery effectively ended her career. She returned to the track at the 2017 Ugandan Championships but completed the

in 5:06.18 – nearly a minute below her best and a time which ranked her as a club level runner rather than an elite athlete. While the IAAF denied recommending or paying for the surgery, Negesa's case fueled controversy over the treatment of athletes with differences in sex development. In 2019, the German government granted her asylum. She was one of the athletes whose cases were profiled in

Phyllis Ellis Phyllis Ellis (born 11 November 1959) is a Canadians, Canadian hockey player, actor and director. Personal life Ellis was born in Oakville, Ontario, Oakville, Ontario and grew up in the Greater Toronto Area. In high school, she did musical theat ...

's 2022 documentary film '' Woman''.Elisabetta Bianchini
"' Woman' documentary calls out the human rights violation of defining a woman in sports"
''

Yahoo! News Yahoo News (stylized as Yahoo! News) is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo. The site was created by Yahoo software engineer Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such ...

'', May 9, 2022.

International competitions

National titles

* Ugandan Athletics Championships **800 m: 2011 **1500 m: 2009, 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Negesa, Annet 1992 births Living people People from Iganga District Ugandan female middle-distance runners Commonwealth Games athletes for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games African Games gold medalists for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 All-Africa Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Uganda Intersex sportspeople Intersex women 21st-century Ugandan LGBTQ people 21st-century Ugandan sportswomen Athletes from Eastern Region, Uganda African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)

International competitions

National titles

See also

References

External links