Annet Negesa


Annet Negesa is a Ugandan female former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. She broke Ugandan national records in the 800 m and the 1500 metres 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 and was the 800 m gold medallist at the 2011 All-Africa Games.
As a junior athlete, she won a team bronze medal at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, an 800 m bronze at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, and two gold medals at the 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships. She was named 2011 Athlete of the Year by Uganda Athletics Federation.
Negesa has a difference of sex development which results in high levels of testosterone in her body. Under rules set by the International Association of Athletics Federations, she had to reduce her testosterone levels in order to compete in the women's category. She had a consultation with a Stephane Bermon, now the chief medical officer of the IAAF, which resulted in her undergoing a gonadectomy to remove her internal testes in 2012. Negesa later said the purpose of the surgery had been misrepresented to her, having been compared to a 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 1500 metres 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.
The IAAF and Dr. Stephane Bermon claimed no involvement in the athlete's surgery, saying that Bermon had not met the athlete and that the IAAF does not provide advice on treatment approaches.

International competitions

National titles