IAAF asks Athletics South Africa to keep Semenya off track until gender test results known
By Gerald Imray, APTuesday, March 30, 2010
IAAF asks ASA to keep Semenya from competing
STELLENBOSCH, South Africa — Track and field’s ruling body has asked South African athletics officials to keep 800-meter world champion Caster Semenya from competing until the results of her gender tests are announced.
Athletics South Africa acting chief Ray Mali had been awaiting a response from the International Association of Athletics Federations on whether it would clear Semenya to run Tuesday at a meet in Stellenbosch.
“The IAAF have given the assurance of completing the medical process speedily and have requested that ASA abide by the world body’s decision not to allow Semenya to participate in track and field events until the process has run its course,” Mali said in a statement Tuesday.
Semenya won the women’s 800 at the world championships in Berlin last August, but the runner’s dramatic improvement in times and muscular build led the International Association of Athletics Federations to order gender tests.
The South African has not run competitively since, and the IAAF is still reviewing the test results to determine her eligibility. The organization has refused to confirm or deny Australian media reports that the tests indicate Semenya has both male and female sex organs.
Mali also asked “for the patience of Semenya and her advisers in the interest of all parties.”
On Monday, he told The Associated Press that Semenya’s lawyers wanted to enter the runner in the Yellow Pages Series meet in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town.
Richard Stander, the chief executive of the local Boland Athletics association, told the AP that the 19-year-old Semenya had not been invited to the meet.
“It’s a technical matter,” Stander said. “If you were in Caster’s position, until the tests come to the fore a doctor would advise you to keep a low profile.”
Although there is no ban or suspension preventing Semenya from competing, it is thought that she had agreed not to race until the IAAF releases its findings.
