Athletics: Semenya to race
Caster Semenya will take part in Wednesday evening's 800m final despite having her gender questioned by the IAAF.
Last Updated: 19/08/09 8:55pm
Caster Semenya will take part in Wednesday evening's 800m final at the World Championships despite having her gender questioned by the IAAF.
The governing body revealed that they have been investigating her gender following a breakthrough performance in winning the African junior championship title at the end of July.
The 18-year-old South African ran a stunning world leading time for the year of one minute 56.72 seconds, striking almost four seconds from her previous best.
Semenya dominated the second semi-final in Berlin, beating Great Britain's Jenny Meadows in qualifying fastest for the final.
IAAF communications director Nick Davies admitted they cannot prevent her from competing.
"The situation today is that we don't have any conclusive evidence that she not be allowed to run, so it would be totally wrong to take a decision such as to withdraw an athlete from the field," he said.
"It is a medical issue, it's not an issue of cheating.
"Again it is stressed in a general sense, we have to be sensitive to this, this is a health issue, this is a human individual who was born as a woman, has grown all her life as a woman and is now in a position where this is being questioned.
"There is a need of course to make sure the rules are followed and the rules are very clear that women should compete in women's competitions, so yes of course, we're taking it absolutely seriously.
"But we're also doing that in a rigorous, fair-minded way. We have to wait until the process is completed however long it takes.
"I believe it will be a matter of weeks rather than months, but that is speculation."
