semenya

Caster Semenya is making a bold bid for double gold in the women's 800m and 1500m but her only guarantee at the World Athletics Championships in London is further scrutiny of the gender controversy that has dogged her career.

The powerful, 26-year-old South African is runaway favourite for the 800m, where she seeks a third world title to add to Olympic gold from Rio de Janeiro last year, and is taking on the 1500m for the first time at a major international meeting.

All of this, though, will come under a cloud of controversy at the August 4-13 championships as many feel high testosterone levels give her an unfair advantage.

Anticipating a storm, Semenya this month granted a rare interview to South Africa's SuperSport TV channel, expressing her frustration at continually having her gender questioned.

'I don't understand when you say I have an advantage because I am a woman,' she said. 'When I pee, I pee like a woman. I don't understand when you say I'm a man or I have a deep voice. I know I am a female so there's no question for me.

'I have to find a way to deflect (the questioning of her gender), so instead of allowing it to all be negative, I turn it into a positive. My family's support system is fantastic.'

After Semenya won the 2009 world title as a 19-year-old, tests reportedly revealed that she was hyperandrogenous, resulting in her body producing an abnormally high amount of testosterone, which makes her more powerful than her rivals.

An International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rule limiting the amount of naturally occurring functional testosterone for female athletes appeared to have narrowed Semenya's prospects but the IAAF's Hyperandrogenism Regulations were suspended for two years in 2015 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing Semenya to make a comeback.

-Dailymail

View Comments