IAAF asks South Africa for gender verification test on women’s 800-meter favorite
By APWednesday, August 19, 2009
IAAF asks South Africa for gender test on Semenya
BERLIN — The IAAF has asked the South African athletics federation to conduct a gender verification test on 800-meter runner amid concerns she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman.
The 18-year-old Caster Semenya is a favorite in Wednesday’s 800 final at the world championships.
The IAAF requested the gender test about three weeks ago after Semenya burst onto the scene by improving her personal bests in the 800 and 1,500 by huge margins.
IAAF spokesman Nick Davies says the “extremely complex, difficult” test has been started but the results were not expected for several weeks.
Davies said “the situation today is that we don’t have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run.”
