Outrage at Caster tests
11 September 2009, 06:57
By Shaun Smillie, Karyn Maughan and Lebogang Seale
Athletics South Africa say they are "appalled" at media reports claiming "Golden Girl" Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite.
The 18-year-old athlete's family yesterday reacted with shock and tears to Australian newspaper claims that she has no womb or ovaries and had internal testes.
Her mother tearfully asked The Star: "What do you want from me people? What do you want me to do?"
Then, before breaking down, she ended the call.
Amid a storm of media reports and speculation, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) insists that it will inform Semenya of the results of her sex tests only in just over two months.
IAAF secretary-general Pierre Weiss yesterday maintained that the IAAF still did not know what the results of the tests were, shying away from directly denying the media reports on Semenya's alleged hermaphrodite status.
"It is clear that she is a woman, but maybe not 100 percent. We have to see if she has an advantage over her possibly being between two sexes compared to the others (women)," he told AFP.
According to Weiss, who yesterday kept in close contact with Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene, the delays in the finalisation of Semenya's tests had been caused by uncertainty as to which experts to submit them to.
He said the results might not necessarily be made public because of strict privacy laws.
Meanwhile, the ASA doctor who supervised the controversial preliminary tests conducted on Semenya in South Africa last month, Dr Harold Adams, has been out of contact for the past three weeks.
The ASA has yet to detail exactly what these tests entailed and has reacted with fury at the latest leaks about Semenya.
Insisting that he did not believe that the IAAF was responsible for the hermaphrodite allegations, Chuene slammed the unidentified sources for "insulting" the gold medallist.
"These are insulting words that the media are using, but we are in the dark," he said, adding that his organisation had not been informed of the results of the tests.
"We must remember that the tests are still ongoing; they have nothing. It will be revealed in November," Chuene said. He expressed concern for Semenya and her family who were likely to hear of the news of the claims via the media.
He revealed that ASA had recently employed a psychologist to help Semenya deal with the public and media scrutiny she has had to endure over the past few weeks.
"We just don't know what effect this information will have on her deep down," Chuene said. "The process is not correct."
Wilfred Daniels, Semenya's former coach who resigned from ASA last week because he alleges that the athlete was tricked into taking a gender test, said he was appalled by the media reports.
"This makes me very sad, even sadder than the day when I came to the realisation that I had to withdraw from the sport," he said.
"She should have been briefed, and they should have been dealt with it in privacy," he added.
Daniels also said he knew from a source within the IAAF that five other athletes had undergone sex verification tests.
"You don't hear about the other athletes; why is Caster the exception?" But it doesn't matter, because she is not guilty of anything, God just made her in such a way."
Sports scientist Ross Tucker yesterday said that he had "serious questions" about the Semenya hermaphrodite reports, which he believed "potentially simplified" her true gender status.
He denied that Semenya faced the loss of her medal and the end of her career if she was found to be a hermaphrodite.
Athletics South Africa say they are "appalled" at media reports claiming "Golden Girl" Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite.
The 18-year-old athlete's family yesterday reacted with shock and tears to Australian newspaper claims that she has no womb or ovaries and had internal testes.
Her mother tearfully asked The Star: "What do you want from me people? What do you want me to do?"
Then, before breaking down, she ended the call.
Amid a storm of media reports and speculation, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) insists that it will inform Semenya of the results of her sex tests only in just over two months.
IAAF secretary-general Pierre Weiss yesterday maintained that the IAAF still did not know what the results of the tests were, shying away from directly denying the media reports on Semenya's alleged hermaphrodite status.
"It is clear that she is a woman, but maybe not 100 percent. We have to see if she has an advantage over her possibly being between two sexes compared to the others (women)," he told AFP.
According to Weiss, who yesterday kept in close contact with Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene, the delays in the finalisation of Semenya's tests had been caused by uncertainty as to which experts to submit them to.
He said the results might not necessarily be made public because of strict privacy laws.
Meanwhile, the ASA doctor who supervised the controversial preliminary tests conducted on Semenya in South Africa last month, Dr Harold Adams, has been out of contact for the past three weeks.
The ASA has yet to detail exactly what these tests entailed and has reacted with fury at the latest leaks about Semenya.
Insisting that he did not believe that the IAAF was responsible for the hermaphrodite allegations, Chuene slammed the unidentified sources for "insulting" the gold medallist.
"These are insulting words that the media are using, but we are in the dark," he said, adding that his organisation had not been informed of the results of the tests.
"We must remember that the tests are still ongoing; they have nothing. It will be revealed in November," Chuene said. He expressed concern for Semenya and her family who were likely to hear of the news of the claims via the media.
He revealed that ASA had recently employed a psychologist to help Semenya deal with the public and media scrutiny she has had to endure over the past few weeks.
"We just don't know what effect this information will have on her deep down," Chuene said. "The process is not correct."
Wilfred Daniels, Semenya's former coach who resigned from ASA last week because he alleges that the athlete was tricked into taking a gender test, said he was appalled by the media reports.
"This makes me very sad, even sadder than the day when I came to the realisation that I had to withdraw from the sport," he said.
"She should have been briefed, and they should have been dealt with it in privacy," he added.
Daniels also said he knew from a source within the IAAF that five other athletes had undergone sex verification tests.
"You don't hear about the other athletes; why is Caster the exception?" But it doesn't matter, because she is not guilty of anything, God just made her in such a way."
Sports scientist Ross Tucker yesterday said that he had "serious questions" about the Semenya hermaphrodite reports, which he believed "potentially simplified" her true gender status.
He denied that Semenya faced the loss of her medal and the end of her career if she was found to be a hermaphrodite.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on September 11, 2009
