Caster Semenya (L) enjoys a groundswell of support from South Africa, with President Jacob Zuma (R) speaking out against the IAAF. (AFP: Paballo Thekiso)
Posted on 09/10/2009 6:01:04 PM PDT by SkyPilot
Gender tests on women's 800 metres champion Caster Semenya reveal that she is a hermaphrodite, according to a leak to News Limited newspapers today.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph says a source close to the testing process has confirmed that Semenya has three times the level of testosterone usually found in a woman, and internal testes instead of ovaries.
The International Association of Athletics Federations ordered tests on Semenya after her gold medal showing at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
Caster Semenya (L) enjoys a groundswell of support from South Africa, with President Jacob Zuma (R) speaking out against the IAAF. (AFP: Paballo Thekiso)
Overnight the IAAF confirmed that it had received the preliminary results of the tests but said it was referring them to medical experts and there would be no decision until November at the earliest.
But if Semenya is a hermaphrodite, it is still unclear if she will lose her gold medal.
If true, the finding is likely to surprise Semenya's former coach Wilfred Daniels, who says Semenya did undergo gender verification testing before she raced.
He says he is ashamed at the way the controversy has been handled by the South African athletics authorities.
"We didn't brief her about the procedures and the protocols, we didn't inform her of her rights in this situation, and we didn't prepare her for the aggressive media onslaught that she was confronted with in Berlin," Daniels said.
In South Africa, the investigation into Semenya's gender has become a question of national pride and it is unlikely this dispute will be easy to solve.
It is unclear whether the IAAF will now try to take back Semenya's gold medal.
Maurie Plant from Athletics Australia says the teen has been let down by both the IAAF and Athletics South Africa.
"Feelings will run high and I think it's fair to say that the victim in this whole thing has, and is going to be, the athlete," he said.
"Regardless of the gender situation and scenario, certainly I believe that she came there thinking that she was taking part in something which she was able to take part in.
"Now the political wranglings have turned the whole thing around, and in certain cases she's painted as a bad person and as a cheat. I don't think that that was her intention."
She says according to the rules, it seems that Semenya should be stripped of her medal.
"But obviously the South Africans are going to contest the issue of the gender," she said.
"I think it's going to not be something that's going to be solved in the next 48 hours or next couple of weeks."
Yuck
Plumbing problem alert!
No she/He/It will get the Minority Pass.
I guess all that is left for him.....er.....her..... is to appear on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Atlanta."
It's called a male
YIKES.
there goes her “dating life”.
Perhaps the best that could be made of this sad situation is to add an asterisk to the race/gold, forbid Caster-rated from
competing in female competition and let the medal stand.
Does she have a son named Eric Cartman?
TMI
How insensitive!!!
IOW, the testes haven’t descended properly.
Is there any other equipment that they have failed to mention?
All women have internal testes. It’s not until a certain stage of development do they turn into ovaries and the ovaries signal the correct hormone of estrogen.
This is a man with undescended testicals.
Someone had to...
Nothing meant to be insensitive, just the truth. Males have testes and females have ovaries. “It’s” was in reference to the scientific term, not the human being.
Yes but as they haven’t, they should not discuss that issue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.