Taurus
08-20-2009, 07:52 AM
[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/castersemenya.jpg[/img2]The world of athletics was hit by controversy last night after a female South African athlete who won the 800m final at the world championships was asked to take a gender verification test to prove she is a woman.
Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old who had never competed outside of Africa, before this week aroused suspicions when she posted the fastest 800m time in the world this year, winning gold at the African junior championships.
Tonight she won the gold medal in Berlin in 1 minute 55.45 seconds, the best in the world this year, beating Janeth Jepkosgei, the defending champion, by 2.45 seconds. The British runner Jenny Meadows won the bronze medal.
Semanya, from Polokwane, Limpopo province, possesses an unusually developed muscular frame and a deep voice and has clocked times which belie her youth – tonight's winning time is more than three-quarters of a second faster than Kelly Holmes's career best.
Nick Davies, a spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), confirmed today that the test was requested after Semenya's run last month amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman. "In the case of this athlete, following her breakthrough in the African junior championships, the gossip was starting to build up," said Davies.
Davies described the tests necessary to determine the gender of an athlete as "an extremely complex procedure" involving medics, scientists, gynaecologists and psychologists, the outcome of which is not expected for several weeks. "The situation today is that we do not have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run," he said.
"It would be wrong today to take a decision to withdraw an athlete. This is a medical condition. It is nothing that she has done. There is a need to make sure rules are followed. We are more concerned for the person and not to make this as something that is humiliating."
The world championships end on Sunday and Davies was unable to say whether any retrospective action could be taken to strip Semenya of her gold medal were she subsequently to be revealed as male. "I can't say that if X happens in the future that we will, for example, retroactively strip results. It's legally very complex," said Davies.
"If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud, that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results. However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating."
Molatelo Malehopo, the general manager of Athletics South Africa, reacted angrily to the rumours. "She is a female," said Malehopo. "We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts. We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening. We have not started testing and we have no plans to do." Bloggers on some South African websites are condemning the allegations as offensive, and even racist.
Semenya's previous personal best, set in 2008, was almost eight seconds slower than her best time this year. At last year's world junior championships, she failed to progress further than the heats, finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:11.98.
Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old who had never competed outside of Africa, before this week aroused suspicions when she posted the fastest 800m time in the world this year, winning gold at the African junior championships.
Tonight she won the gold medal in Berlin in 1 minute 55.45 seconds, the best in the world this year, beating Janeth Jepkosgei, the defending champion, by 2.45 seconds. The British runner Jenny Meadows won the bronze medal.
Semanya, from Polokwane, Limpopo province, possesses an unusually developed muscular frame and a deep voice and has clocked times which belie her youth – tonight's winning time is more than three-quarters of a second faster than Kelly Holmes's career best.
Nick Davies, a spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), confirmed today that the test was requested after Semenya's run last month amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman. "In the case of this athlete, following her breakthrough in the African junior championships, the gossip was starting to build up," said Davies.
Davies described the tests necessary to determine the gender of an athlete as "an extremely complex procedure" involving medics, scientists, gynaecologists and psychologists, the outcome of which is not expected for several weeks. "The situation today is that we do not have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run," he said.
"It would be wrong today to take a decision to withdraw an athlete. This is a medical condition. It is nothing that she has done. There is a need to make sure rules are followed. We are more concerned for the person and not to make this as something that is humiliating."
The world championships end on Sunday and Davies was unable to say whether any retrospective action could be taken to strip Semenya of her gold medal were she subsequently to be revealed as male. "I can't say that if X happens in the future that we will, for example, retroactively strip results. It's legally very complex," said Davies.
"If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud, that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results. However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating."
Molatelo Malehopo, the general manager of Athletics South Africa, reacted angrily to the rumours. "She is a female," said Malehopo. "We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts. We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening. We have not started testing and we have no plans to do." Bloggers on some South African websites are condemning the allegations as offensive, and even racist.
Semenya's previous personal best, set in 2008, was almost eight seconds slower than her best time this year. At last year's world junior championships, she failed to progress further than the heats, finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:11.98.
Note: No trees were destroyed in the sending of this contaminant free message. However, I do concede, a significant number of electrons may have been inconvenienced.
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I wonder if she has mountie fantasies!?!:tongue: Happy Birthday Alba
