The drama surrounding 800m 2009 World Champion Caster Semenya continues, with preliminary medical tests showing the 18-year-old South African to have three times the normal female level of testosterone in her body.
From The Telegraph:
Preliminary medical tests on Caster Semenya, the 18-year-old South African at the centre of a gender row, have recorded elevated levels of the male hormone testosterone, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
A source close to the investigation into the 800 metres gold medallist has confirmed that tests carried out before the start of the World Championships indicated that the runner had three times the normal female level of testosterone in her body.
Understandably, not all agree with the gender testing that Semenya is being subjected to:
The row over whether Semenya is a woman or a man has become a cause célèbre in South Africa, where the country’s parliament is preparing to file a complaint with the United Nations Commissioner of Human Rights over the athlete’s treatment, saying the gender verification tests are a “gross and severe undermining of rights and privacy.”
Click through to see another photo of Semenya, as well as a video clip of her being interviewed.
Christopher Meatto