People Are Not Happy With An Athlete Who Came Sixth In A Race But Complained About Caster Semenya

    Speaking about Semenya, who has naturally high levels of testosterone, Lynsey Sharp said: "We are very much relying on the people at the top to sort it out."

    British athlete Lynsey Sharp competed in the women's 800m race yesterday. In the race Sharp ran her personal best and came sixth. In an interview with the BBC, she appeared to claim the winner of the race, South African athlete Caster Semenya, had an unfair advantage that allowed her to win.

    Semenya, the winner of the woman's 800m, has had her sex tested (also known as gender verification) in the past due to her high testosterone level. A recent rule change has meant that women with naturally high levels of testosterone do not need to take hormone-suppressing drugs in order to be eligible to compete, and a reporter from the BBC asked Sharp about it.

    Sobbing, Sharp said: "I've tried to avoid this all year. You can see how emotional it was between me, Melissa [Bishop], and Joanne [Fenn] at the end. We know how each other feel.

    "it's pretty much out of our control. We are very much relying on the people at the top to sort it out. I think the public can see as well how difficult it is with the change of rule."

    Despite coming sixth, Sharp said: "We're not far away. You can feel how close it is and that's encouraging. All I can do it work hard over the winter and come back even stronger and give it our best every year."

    After her interview Sharp posted a statement on Twitter on Sunday in which she said "I have tremendous amount of respect for Caster."

    She wrote: "Media and politics should not distract from her performance. When asked on live TV, I felt I gave an honest and diplomatic response. I refused to answer questions from any other media on the topic. As you can imagine, it's frustrating to finish a race to be asked about your competitors performance."

    However, people have been critical of Sharp for her comments about Semenya.

    Imagine being so mad at other people's greatness just so you can finish 5th instead of 6th when you compete? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 #LynseySharp

    Mostly they were confused as to why she had spoken at such length about Semenya, who was five places ahead of her.

    #LynseySharp was beaten by FOUR OTHER runners and yet she only moans about @caster800m? GTFOH and go work harder

    Because she came 6th #LynseySharp decides to take out her frustration on the one person who's already persecuted and discriminated against?

    People have described her as a "bad sport".

    So #LynseySharp is such a bad sport she cries when she loses A pathetic display of character You were beaten by the fAster runner the end 😡

    And other social media users want South Africans to know that black Britons don't share the same view as Sharp.

    Dear Rainbow Nation ignore #LynseySharp sour grapes comments. British blacks are in full support of #CasterSemenya https://t.co/v1EPgDuQag

    Some people have expressed support...

    @LynseySharp Well done Lynsey, everyone except the P.C loonies know the truth, Semenya is good but has a ridiculous unfair advantage. 🇬🇧

    ...but on the whole, the outrage doesn't seem to be abating.

    @LynseySharp you'd do well to focus on your training and sportsmanship. And keep Semenya's name out of your mouth.