South African in gender flap gets her gold

The South African teenager caught up in a gender-test flap received her gold medal Thursday for winning the women's 800 metres at the world championships in Berlin.

Caster Semenya won by a huge margin Wednesday despite revelations that the world track body asked her to undergo gender testing.

When asked while walking into the medal ceremony how she felt, Semenya smiled and said, "Good, man."

Dressed in a yellow and green track suit, Semenya waved to the crowd as she ascended the podium to receive her gold medal. She stood with her hands behind her back and mouthed the words to the South African national anthem.

Semenya's dramatic improvement, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender, but her family has dismissed speculation she is not a woman.

Semenya's father, Jacob, told the Sowetan newspaper: "She is my little girl. … I raised her and I have never doubted her gender. She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times."

A South African team official also weighed in.

"She said to me she doesn't see what the big deal is all about," team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Thursday. "She believes it is God-given talent and she will exercise it."

Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Semenya was thrilled about winning the race and picking up her first world title.

"She was over the moon."

'Innocent until proven guilty'

The head of South Africa's track and field federation also spoke on Thursday, saying Semenya is facing intense scrutiny about her gender because she's African.

"It would not be like that if it were some young girl from Europe," Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene told The Associated Press by telephone. "If it was a white child, she would be sitting somewhere with a psychologist, but this is an African child."

Chuene also said there was no evidence to prove Semenya was doing anything wrong.

"If there was evidence, she would have been stopped," Chuene said. "Where I come from, you're innocent until proven guilty."

"They're judging her based on what?" Chuene added. "Who can give me conclusive evidence? I want someone to do that."

Chuene said he has been with Semenya since she dominated the 800 final in a world-leading time of one minute, 55.45 seconds.

"I've been with her all the time," Chuene said. "I have to be the father. I have to be everything.

"People think we come from the bush in Africa and live like animals. We're not going to allow people to destroy children."

Chuene said Semenya was insulted by the outcry.

"She cannot be different from any child. She's a human being. She reacted like a child," Chuene said. "Everybody would react that way. You cannot go through that humiliation."

'God made her look that way'

Semenya's paternal grandmother, Maputhi Sekgalam said the controversy "doesn't bother me that much because I know she's a woman."

"What can I do when they call her a man, when she's really not a man? It is God who made her look that way," Sekgala told the South African daily the Times.

About three weeks ago, the IAAF asked the South African athletics federation to conduct the gender test after Semenya burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of one minute 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in Bambous, Maruitius.

The test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and expert on gender.

Gideon Sam, president of South Africa's Olympic governing body, congratulated Semenya on a "truly remarkable achievement."

"We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event," Sam said. "It's the biggest day of her life."

The medal ceremony for the 800 is scheduled for later Thursday.

Athlete stripped of her medal in '06

Morris Gilbert, a media consultant for TuksSport, the University of Pretoria's sports department, said the issue of Semenya's gender has not been raised since the freshman began attending the school, where she studies sports science.

"We are all very proud of her and of what she's achieved," Gilbert said. "The university stands behind her all the way."

He attributed her recent success to hard work and rigorous training.

"She trains a lot," Gilbert said. "If you go to the athletics track, you're sure to find her there. I don't think she had really good training before she came to the university. She's from a very poor area."

While Semenya's case has attracted a flurry of attention, it's not the first gender controversy in track-and-field history.

In 2006, the Asian Games 800 champion, Santhi Soundarajan of India, was stripped of her medal after failing a gender test. Perhaps the most famous case is that of Stella Walsh, also known as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish athlete who won gold in the 100 at the 1932 Olympics, who had ambiguous genitalia.

The IOC conducted gender tests at the Olympics, but the controversial screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games.

Among reasons for dropping the test, not all women have standard female chromosomes. In addition, there are cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions.