“I can’t biologically contribute to making new life. I did not know any of this about my body until soon after August 2009, when I won the gold medal in the 800-m race at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany. I was only eighteen years old and had been subjected to invasive and humiliating gender confirmation tests without my consent just prior to the race. What followed was a media firestorm that continues to this day.

“Of course, growing up I knew I looked and behaved differently from many of my peers, but my family, my community, and my country accepted me as I was and never made me feel like an outsider. The beauty of my childhood was that I never felt othered or unwanted—this is the source of my strength. I have never questioned who I am.

“I’d overhear coaches and other runners say, “That doesn’t look like a girl,” or “Why is this boy here with us?” I had no problem going right up to them and introducing myself. “Hello. I am Caster. I am a girl. Would you like to see? I can drop my shorts here for you.

“I didn’t do well in the event. I came in fourth and to this day, I don’t know what happened except to say I couldn’t find the zone. I didn’t yet understand that racing wasn’t just about being fast, it was also about strategizing and quieting the mind. I was used to running alone, my only company at times just cows and sheep and goats. I was used to running in South Africa. I couldn’t yet control my nerves. I resolved to learn and never lose again.

“The thing is, I don’t want to be a man. If my body’s makeup makes me “intersex,” as they say, then I’m intersex. There’s nothing to be done about that. The terms will change as the years go by. They always do. To me, they’re just words. Even if I did this or that to fit some people’s idea of what a woman or a man is supposed to look like, my soul would remain the same. My body is mine, and I will not change it for anyone. That is what saved my career; it is the reason you know who I am. And I feel sorry for the sisters who agreed to the surgery, for their road to inner peace may be harder and longer than mine. My soul feels right in my body. I believe it always will. But if one day I change my mind about that, it’s my business. Mind yours.