Caster Semenya, who vowed to compete again after she was barred from running due to concerns about her gender, has been given clearance to begin competing again.
The South African runner was first ordered to undergo gender testing nearly a year ago, in August of 2009. Reports circulated shortly thereafter that the athlete was a hermaphrodite , and she was unable to compete while governing bodies determined the fate of her career. Semenya was allowed back officially today, and the IAAF declined to detail the specifics in the statement released to press:
“The process initiated in 2009 in the case of Caster Semenya has now been completed,” the IAAF said. “The IAAF accepts the conclusion of a panel of medical experts that she can compete with immediate effect. Please note that the medical details of the case remain confidential and the IAAF will make no further comment on the matter.”
Although Semenya’s battle to race as a woman appears to be over, it doesn’t seem that she has shed all the curiosity surrounding her gender, physical attributes and stunning talent. The Guardian says:
Speculation as to what that (testing) “process” might have entailed has been rife, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that rather than waiting for the results of a gender verification test – as had been claimed by the IAAF – she has been undergoing hormone-based treatment for what is widely accepted to be an intersex condition. As Pierre Weiss, the IAAF general secretary, indiscreetly termed it: “She is a woman but maybe not 100%.”
Semenya might return to the sport in October, at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
