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Athletics South Africa chief Leonard Chuene will keep his job despite calls for him to be fired for lying about Caster Semenya undergoing gender tests. Chuene first denied knowing that tests were carried out on the runner in South Africa before her 800m world title win but later admitted he had known. He then expressed outrage when governing body the IAAF ordered its own tests after the Berlin championships. But the Athletics South Africa council has backed the under-fire Chuene. After meeting for several hours on Thursday, they released a brief statement saying it "unanimously expressed confidence in the current ASA leadership." Chuene refused to comment after the meeting but South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance party said the statement was "exceptionally disappointing." "The need for Chuene to go is a no-brainer - so it is of deep concern that ASA appears to have given him a vote of confidence," they said. The mere fact that SA athletics t...

Considering suicide after being stripped of her medal and shunned by the people around her, Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan knows a bit about what Caster Semenya is going through. Soundarajan failed a gender test after finishing second in the women's 800-metre race at the 2006 Asian Games and was forced to return her silver medal.Semenya, the 800 world champion from South Africa who has been going through the same type of test to prove she is eligible to compete as a woman, is facing an uncertain future. "I pray that Semenya does not go through what I've been through, it almost drove me to committing suicide,'' Soundarajan, now 28, said from her southern Indian hometown. "I've suffered immensely due to the stigma of the failed gender test.'' Soundarajan, who came from a poor family, was forced to drop out of competitive athletics after she failed the gender test, and finding a job and earning enough money to eat then became a daily struggle. Semen...

Retired American track and field star Carl Lewis says South African athletics authorities have "let down" Caster Semenya, 18, amid the row over her sex. The newly crowned 800m world champion has had medical tests following doubts about whether she is actually female. Athletics' world governing body (IAAF), demanded the test three weeks before the World Championships and Lewis says Semenya should have been withdrawn. "The South African federation should have dealt with it," said Lewis. The IAAF said the teenager was first asked to undergo a gender test after she posted a world leading time of one minute, 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in July. To put it out in front of the world like that, I am very disappointed in them because I feel that it is unfair to her Carl Lewis The test was never conducted and Semenya was allowed to compete at the World Championships in Berlin. However, the South African athletics federation denied there were concerns ...

WASHINGTON – It’s the birth defect people don’t talk about. A baby is born not completely male or female. The old term was hermaphrodite, then intersex. Now it’s called “disorders of sexual development.” Sometimes the person with the problem doesn’t even know it and finds out in an all too public way. That’s been the painful plight of a few female athletes through history. And apparently that’s the situation for South African track star Caster Semenya. Two Australian newspapers reported Friday that gender tests show the world champion athlete has no ovaries or uterus and internal testes that produce large amounts of testosterone. The international sports federation that ordered the tests wouldn’t confirm the reports. Experts say Semenya should be allowed to race as a woman and they cringe at how her case is exploding publicly in the news media. They worry about psychological scars. Two years ago, a star female track athlete who tested male attempted suicide. Unless she took some illici...

Semenya , who won the women's 800-meter title at last month's world championship in Berlin, has had a gender test, and the results given to track and field's ruling body were leaked to Australian newspapers. Former IAAF medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist would not comment specifically on the Semenya case, but he cautioned that a person's gender is not always easy to define. "There is no simple, single lab test that can tell if you are a man or a woman. It is not black and white," Ljungqvist told The Associated Press by phone Friday from Sweden. "A person who carries a legal certificate showing that he is a man or a women, then they are a man or a woman." Semenya comes from a poor village in rural South Africa and first drew attention when she won the 800 title at the African junior championships. With her muscular build and deep voice, more questions were raised at the world championships. The International Association of Athletics Federat...

The results of the gender tests run on South African runner Caster Semenya are in, but the International Association of Athletics Federation refused today to confirm or deny reports that the 18-year-old medal winner belongs to a gender category known as intersex -- in other words, that she may possess both male and female biological features. var playerSwf = new SWFObject("/assets/flash/mediaplayer/EmbedPlayer.swf", Share Chris Cuomo anchors a recap of "Good Morning America." Speculation over the results have given rise to media reports using the term "hermaphrodite" -- a label that is falling out of use within the medical community due to its offensive and often inaccurate nature. The IAAF said in a statement that it won't release the results of its gender tests on Semenya until November. "We can officially confirm that gender verification test results will be examined by a group of medical experts," the organization said. "No decisi...

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. Two Australian newspapers reported Friday that gender tests show the world champion athlete has no ovaries or uterus and internal testes that produce large amounts of testosterone. The international sports federation that ordered the tests wouldn't confirm the reports. The International Association of Athletics Federations, which ordered the gender tests, refused to confirm or deny the reports. In a statement, the IAAF said it is reviewing the test results and will issue a final decision in November. South African Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile expressed horror at the handling of the affair and insisted Caster is female. "We think her human rights have been violated and her privacy invaded,...

It's been a week of change for Caster Semenya, the South African runner at the center of a gender controversy at last month's world track championships. First, one of her South African coaches quit the team in shame for not telling Semenya that she was being subjected to gender tests. (Semenya had thought she was taking a doping test.) Then, Semenya appeared on the cover of South Africa's You magazine with a complete makeover designed to silence critics who insist she is a man. For the shoot Semenya sported a less ambiguous hair style, a designer black dress, jewelry, makeup and nail polish. Despite what you think about the whole situation, it's safe to say that this is the first time that Semenya has truly looked like an 18-year old woman. She says she likes the look too. Semenya told the BBC: "I'd like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance. I am who I am and I'm proud of myself." Let's hope this is what she wants th...

Caster Semenya, the 18-year old at the center of one of the biggest gender scandals in sports history, withdrew from a weekend race in South Africa amidst unconfirmed reports that her gender tests have revealed that she has both male and female sexual organs. She was scheduled to compete in the 4,000 meters at the national cross country championships in Pretoria. Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, says his runner "isn't feeling well". Yesterday, unsubstantiated reports from Australia and England said that Semenya's tests showed that she has no womb or ovaries and produces testosterone levels three times higher than a normal woman. The IAAF thinly denies the reports . (The organization's spokesman says he hasn't "seen" the results, which doesn't mean he hasn't "heard" the results. Nor has the IAAF come out and said that the reports are false.) The Today Show aired a report on the Semenya situation this morning: It's another c...

South Africa's Caster Semenya has been at the centre of rumours since winning gold [AFP]The IAAF – International Association of Athletics Federations – has confirmed it has received the results of gender tests on South African runner Caster Semenya, but is still reviewing them and will not issue any final decision until November. The IAAF did not confirm or deny Australian newspaper reports that the recently crowned women's world 800 -metre champion has male and female sexual organs. The Australian newspaper reported in its Friday edition that medical reports on the 18-year-old Semenya indicate she has no ovaries, but rather has internal male testes, which are producing large amounts of testosterone. Staying quiet "We would like to emphasise that these should not be considered as official statements by the IAAF,'' the federation said in a statement regarding the reports that first appeared in News Limited and Fairfax newspapers. "We can officially confirm that...