Outrage, worry in South Africa over world champion after gender reports
PRETORIA, South Africa - Caster Semenya had heard the taunts and whispers - that she was different from other girls. Now the most intimate details of her anatomy are headline news, and there is worry about how the 18-year-old runner from a poor South African village will handle it all. 11 September
Back off, or prepare for a “third world war”
South African officials vow to protect Caster Semenya
Things have gotten ugly since Caster Semenya, the 18-year-old South African runner, received her gold medal for winning the world championship’s 800m race. Since then, the question of the hour of has been: should Semenya have been competing as a woman in the first place? This week, South Africa answered that query with a resounding yes. “Caster is a woman,” said South Africa’s sports minister, Reverend Makhenkesi Stoufile. “She remains our heroine. We must protect her.” But BBC Sport reports that the runner likely has “an intersex status,” meaning that she has both male and female sex characteristics. The world athletics governing body (IAAF) is still analyzing results, and will not comment on the issue until after a November meeting. But South Africa promises swift action if Semenya is barred from competing in future competitions: “I think it would be the third world war,” said Stofile. “We (will) go to the highest levels in contesting such a decision.” South African officials add that they believe gender testing so far has proved “inconclusive.”
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