Editing Helen Stephens (section)

==1936 Olympic gender controversy==
At the 1936 Olympics, it was suggested that both Stephens and [[Stanisława Walasiewicz]] were, in fact, male.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/43890575 |title=Caster Semenya expected to be affected by IAAF rule changes |work=BBC Sport| access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref> Stephens received scrutiny over her gender after 100 m victory, with the [[Warsaw]]-based newspaper Kurier Poranny writing, "It is scandalous that the Americans entered a man in the women's competition."<ref>"Polish Writer Calls Helen Stephens 'Man,'" ''Los Angeles Times,'' 6 August 1936, quoted in Michael Waters, ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), 214.</ref> Other newspapers soon also reported on Stephens alleged lack of femininity. Stephens later told her biographer that she told reporters who questioned her about her gender "to check the facts with the Olympic committee physician who sex-tested all athletes prior to competition."<ref>Sharon Hanson, ''The Life of Helen Stephens'' (''Southern Illinois University Press,'' 2004)'','' 96, quoted in Michael Waters, ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), 215.</ref>

Newspapers soon reported that German officials had given Stephens a so-called sex test and let her compete only after they had confirmed she was a woman.<ref>Waters, Michael (2024). ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 215.</ref> The ''Harrisbug Telegraph'' reported that [[International Olympic Committee]] performed a physical check on Stephens and concluded that she was a woman.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6344479/harrisburg_telegraph/ |title=Helen Stephens is real girl |date=August 6, 1936 |newspaper= Harrisburg Telegraph |page=14 |access-date=August 23, 2016 }}</ref> These reports were denied by IOC committee member [[Avery Brundage]] and no further evidence surfaced. In 1938, [[Paul Gallico]] in his book ''Farewell to Sport'' suggested that American sports officials had examined Stephens prior to the Olympic games. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Waters |first=Michael |title=The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2024 |isbn=978-0374609818 |pages=216}}</ref> On August 28, following the Olympics but before returning to New York, Stephens wrote in her diary that she was inspected by American officials.<ref>Waters, Michael (2024). ''The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 234.</ref>