The Strange Case of Stella Walsh

Twenty-seven years ago today, the Polish-born former Olympic gold medalist Stanisława Walasiewicz, known here in the States as Stella Walsh, was killed as an innocent bystander to a robbery attempt in Cleveland. She was 69 years old. It was a tragic death, and one that led to a most bizarre discovery.

Walasiewicz's family emigrated to the U.S. when she was an infant. Ineligible for the U.S. Olympic team due to her lack of citizenship, she started running and training in Poland in the 20's, where she became an international star. Her crowning glory came at the 1932 Summer Games in L.A., where she won the gold medal in the women's 100 meters, tying the world record in the process. At the 1936 Games, she won the silver in the 100m, coming in second behind Helen Stephens of the U.S. In the charged climate of the Nazi Olympics, Stephens was accused of being a man, a charge that ironically Walasiewicz seconded. Stephens was forced to submit to genital inspection to prove her gender, and she came out with flying colors - all woman. (In the picture above on the left, Stephens (left) and Walasiewicz (right) shake hands.)

Walasiewicz continued her career on the track until the 1950's, even winning a U.S. national title in 1951, when she was 40 years old. In 1975, she was inducted in the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame. At that point, she was an active leader of all sorts of Polish-American youth and sporting associations, endeavors that she continued until her untimely death in 1980.

During a routine autopsy of Walasiewicz's body, it was discovered that she possessed male genitalia. A more detailed investigation also revealed that she possessed the male XY chromosome. Based on these facts, she would have been ruled ineligible to compete in women's events, and there was brief but spirited debate in the IOC about the possibility of posthumously rescinding her medals before the matter was dropped altogether.

Gender tests became mandatory in the Olympics starting in 1968, spurred by the discovery at the 1967 European Championships that another Polish sprinter, Ewa Klobukowska, possessed the male chromosome. Klobukowska was subsequently stripped of the gold and bronze medal that she won at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Sadly, this was a heinous injustice - tests ultimately proved that Klobukowska's chromosome was not the male XY but in fact a genetic mutation, XXY, that in no way affected her gender or sex organs. Olympic gender testing was halted at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 due to pressure from the athletes, and now at the Games you are taken on your word as to your gender unless suspicions are aroused otherwise. In this day and age, it seems like the Olympic detectives have their hands full anyway with far more pressing matters.