[j_w]

Even if you believe that it is the case that she lived her early life as a male, at the point that a person has made it clear that they have some preferred pronoun/is trans would it not just be disrespectful to intentionally refer to them counter to that?

[dpd_dpd]

If I had chosen to refer to Semenya using pronouns that imply he is female, that would have conflicted with the points I was making.

[lolc]

I don't know the specifics in this case, but they can be biologically male and use the female gender. How would that conflict your point?