[BBUK4LYFE]

BERLIN (AP) - The IAAF has asked the South African athletics federation to conduct a gender verification test on 800-meter runner Caster Semenya amid concerns she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman

The 18-year-old Semenya won the 800 final on Wednesday at the world championships in a world leading 1 minute, 55.45 seconds, beating defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei by a massive 2.45 seconds. Jennifer Meadows of Britain took bronze.

Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo was eliminated in qualifying.

The IAAF requested the gender test about three weeks ago, after Semenya burst onto the scene by slicing her personal bests in the 800 and 1,500 by huge margins.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies stressed that "it's a medical issue, not an issue of cheating."

He said the "extremely complex, difficult" test has been started but that the results were not expected for weeks.

The verification test requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender.

"So we're talking about reports that are very long, very time consuming," Davies said.

South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane would not confirm or deny that Semenya was having a gender test, but said "there was no cheating on our part."

"We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way," Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said. "Our conscience is clear in terms of Caster. We have no reservations at all about that."

Although medals will be awarded for the 800, the race remains under a cloud until the investigation is closed, and Semenya could be stripped of the gold depending on the test results, IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss said.

"If at the end of the investigation it is proven that the athlete is not female, we will withdraw the medal," Weiss said. "But today there is no proof and the benefit of doubt must always be in favor of the athlete."

Semenya qualified for Wednesday's final with a top time of 1 minute, 58.64 seconds, and posted the world's top time this year of 1:56.72 three weeks ago at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story...enya?GT1=39002

Youtube video

[andyman]

Yeah it was on BBC News 24... Looks like a bloke.

[Lauren]

Saw this when I was watching Poor girl, if she is one.

THOUGH, I was looking on her athletics profile early today and saw that within a year her av. run has been lowered by 6 seconds. Something is amiss!! IAAF wouldn't come out with this without high suspicion.

I reckon maybe she is either androgynous, or female, but taking high amounts of testosterone to increase her ability but unfortunately messing her up.

[andyman]

Yep you could be right Lauren, she will be leaving the toilet seat up next.

[King Gizzard]

Very odd, she doesnt have a female body shape either

[MrGaryy]

Yeah I was gonna say that too Lauren I reckon she is a girl but is injecting herself with testosterone.

[Appearance_Of_A_Junky]

Originally posted by andyman
Yep you could be right Lauren, she will be leaving the toilet seat up next.

or peeing all over it.

either/or

[King Gizzard]

I just lookeda the age as well. 18!?

[King Gizzard]

found this on youtube from two days ago.

Youtube video

[King Gizzard]

lol this has fascinated me.

anyone who wants to watch the race

Youtube video

[BBUK4LYFE]

Originally posted by Nathan
found this on youtube from two days ago.

Youtube video

No wonder they are running gender test.

If I didn't know she was claiming to be a girl, I would have thought that was a dude without any doubt in my mind.

[GypsyGoth]

Really does look like a boy.

[Indierock&roll]

im am sure thats a boy aha,

[TurtleSoup]

I feel sorry for her.
She's clearly extremely masculine but she's still grown up as a girl and at 18 imagine how tough that is, everyone being so convinced she is male even if she feels female.

Not only that but she comes from South Africa, if it turns out that, internally, she is male...In South Africa that will be really frowned upon, she'd be an outcast.

[Z]

Hehe. Semenya. Semen, ya?

[Brad.]

Originally posted by Zee
Hehe. Semenya. Semen, ya?

ROFL

[rayheartbliss]

she is female....look at her eyebrows their high lifted, and no adams apple.

shes just masculine i think.

[rayheartbliss]

if she is male, then wouldnt that be classed as cheating, because she would be more fitter than her opponents.

[ILoveTRW]

Originally posted by Bradley.

ROFL

i came up with that one on this thread http://www.thisisbigbrother.com/foru...php?tid=141626 and nobody laughed

[Fom]

Originally posted by rayheartbliss
if she is male, then wouldnt that be classed as cheating, because she would be more fitter than her opponents.

Well it would be cheating... a man pretending to be a woman is clearly going to win in a womans race, as men are naturally faster. And if she is too masculine and has added too much testosterone to her body... then I am sure she can get fined for that, or have her medal removed.

[King Gizzard]

Its just the hips..she doesnt have a womens body shape at all.

[Brad.]

no bulge though..

[King Gizzard]

She/he could be just very poorly endowed lol

[Brad.]

Originally posted by Nathan
She/he could be just very poorly endowed lol

[BBUK4LYFE]

Tests have revealed Caster Semenya's testosterone level to be three times higher than those normally expected in a female sample, BBC Sport understands.

Analysis prior to the World Athletics Championships coupled with her rapid improvement prompted calls for a gender test from the sport's governing body.

News of the test was made public just hours before the 18-year-old South African won 800m gold in Berlin.

A high level of testosterone does not always equate to a failed drugs test.

But the news will only increase speculation surrounding Semenya, who arrived back in South Africa to a rapturous welcome on Tuesday.

Semenya was welcomed by hundreds of well-wishers on her return to South Africa

Hundreds turned out in Johannesburg to greet the teenager, who has stunned the athletics world with her performances this season.

She ran a time of one minute, 56.72 seconds in Bambous in July to smash her previous personal best by more than seven seconds.

She also broke Zola Budd's long-standing South African record and arrived at the World Championships as the newly crowned African junior champion.

Then in Berlin she left her rivals trailing to win gold in a time of 1:55.45.

Defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei was second, a massive 2.45 seconds adrift, with Britain's Jenny Meadows taking the bronze medal.

Only hours before the race, it leaked out that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had demanded Semenya take a gender test amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman.

It has since emerged that news of the test only became public knowledge because a fax was sent to the wrong person.

It has also been revealed that following the findings of initial tests, the South Africans were asked by the IAAF to withdraw her from the team at the World Championships.

Since then, both her family and South African athletics chiefs have leapt to her defence, insisting she is 100% female.

"Caster is a girl. I am not worried about that too much," said her uncle on her arrival back in South Africa.

"Caster is like my child. I know where she comes from. For myself, I know Caster is a girl."

Leonard Chuene, president of Athletics South Africa (ASA), has resigned from his seat on the IAAF board in protest against the organisation's treatment of Semenya.

"It will not be fair for me to attack the IAAF as a council member and representative of South Africa. It is a conflict of interest," Chuene told BBC's Newshour programme.

Chuene also asked that the issue be laid to rest.

"We have not once, as ASA, doubted her," he said. "It's very simple - she's a girl.

"We took this child to Poland to the junior championship under the IAAF. Why was there no story about it? She was accepted there.

"No-one said anything there because she did not do anything special. She is the same girl."

Semenya has been humiliated - Holmes

Testosterone levels can vary widely, which makes it hard to detect possible infractions.

When analysis shows an athlete to have a raised level, they are monitored at regular intervals over a set period to establish what their underlying levels would be.

That is then used as a marker for the future, so any sharp differences immediately stand out as suspicious.

An analysis of Semenya's testosterone levels was carried out in South Africa and it is understood that this information contributed to the IAAF's decision to request the ASA carry out a detailed "gender verification" test on the athlete.

Those medical tests are said to be ongoing, with the results not expected for several weeks.

On Sunday, IAAF president Lamine Diack admitted the affair could have been treated with more sensitivity.

"It should not even have become an issue if the confidentiality had been respected," he said. "There was a leak of confidentiality at some point and this led to some insensitive reactions."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8219937.stm