Semenya gender test results to be kept confidential

The results of a gender test performed on Caster Semenya will be kept confidential, the Department of Sport and Recreation said on Thursday.

"We have agreed with the IAAF [International Association of Athletics Federations] that whatever scientific tests... will be treated as a confidential matter between patient and doctor," the department said in a statement.

"As such there will be no public announcement of what the panel of scientists has found," it said.

"We urge all South Africans and other people to respect this professional, ethical and moral way of doing things."

Semenya won the women's 800m at the World Athletics Championship in Berlin in August. However her gender was called into question with claims that her physique, deep voice and powerful running style were typical of a man.

The IAAF conducted a gender test on Semenya in Germany, to the criticism of the then Athletics South Africa (ASA) president head Leonard Chuene, and local politicians who accused the IAAF of racism, sexism, eurocentricity and colonialism.

Chuene later admitted that ASA had conducted its own gender test before Semenya's left for Germany. He has been suspended over the debacle.

In September, an Australian newspaper reported an as yet unconfirmed leak that the IAAF had found Semenya was a hermaphrodite. Semenya was reportedly "devastated" about the article.

The IAAF had described Semenya's treatment as "deeply regrettable", the department of sport and recreation said in its statement.

"The IAAF is adamant that the public discourse did not originate with them," the department said.

"We also cannot prove the contrary. It is our considered view that this chapter of blame apportioning must now be closed."

The department said that, after deliberations with the IAAF and Semenya's lawyers, it was decided that the runner was blameless in the controversy and should keep the prizes she won in Berlin.

"Because Caster has been found to be innocent of any wrong, she will then retain her gold medal, retain her title of 800m world champion, retain her prize money," the department said.

The department criticised the ASA under Chuene and endorsed the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc). It said it had spoken to involved parties from the start, despite many challenges.

"This [discussion] was not easy given the sensitivity of the issues as well as the distance between us and the sport bodies. The IAAF is in Europe; ASA is in South Africa but were harder to get the facts from," the department said.

"Perhaps Sascoc was better in getting closer to the truth, because they started the quest for the truth later than all of us."

Sascoc took over the administration of ASA after suspending Chuene and the board. A new board is to be elected over the weekend.

Aint this kind of pointless now?

WTF! you kidding me! Thats like not announcing the winner of Idols or something! create all the hype and now......nothing!

Too little too late? She is a hermaphrodite? or are these now the tests done by a pedi doctor so that they can find a word for her condition?

How will the women that raced against her feel? I say this is not the last we hear about it.

not hard to add 1+1 when she is either allowed or not allowed to compete against woman.

What a farce

I'll never ever forget what Malema said about us "white people" when Semenya landed at the airport and I've never found anything else said by anyone from the ANC more disturbing than his comments, how someone is more than willing to clock up political points at the expense of not just white people in general, but against the entire sporting institution and against this country as a whole.

Malema is a corrupt snake, a manipulator and a lier and everything about him just wreaks deception. Everything wrong about all of Africa is epitomized in one person and how he can be in such high position in this government is something that should worry all of us. He needs to be removed like a thorn.

JHatman said:

I'll never ever forget what Malema said about us "white people" when Semenya landed at the airport and I've never found anything else said by anyone from the ANC more disturbing than his comments, how someone is more than willing to clock up political points at the expense of not just white people in general, but against the entire sporting institution and against this country as a whole.

Malema is a corrupt snake, a manipulator and a lier and everything about him just wreaks deception. Everything wrong about all of Africa is epitomized in one person and how he can be in such high position in this government is something that should worry all of us. He needs to be removed like a thorn.

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hes the anc's mouth piece for what they can't say directly.

So these sportingn bodies release sensitive info on an athlete and turn her life upsidedown and then take the moral high ground about not releasing any more info as it is "professional, ethical and moral way of doing things."

What a joke. Someone leaked the info and if it was ASA it would be like shooting oneself in the foot. I mean if you are running a suspect athlete you would rather keep things on the quiete then blab and start the fingers pointing to you, so I feel the IAAF are the ones to blame for this fiasco.

I'm not deffending ASA, there treatment of Semenya was just as crappy but the blame needs to go to all of these "professional, ethical and moral" sporting bodies who just through athletes who perform under thier badges under busses.

What a fiasco.

Ronjay said:

So these sportingn bodies release sensitive info on an athlete and turn her life upsidedown and then take the moral high ground about not releasing any more info as it is "professional, ethical and moral way of doing things."

What a joke. Someone leaked the info and if it was ASA it would be like shooting oneself in the foot. I mean if you are running a suspect athlete you would rather keep things on the quiete then blab and start the fingers pointing to you, so I feel the IAAF are the ones to blame for this fiasco.

I'm not deffending ASA, there treatment of Semenya was just as crappy but the blame needs to go to all of these "professional, ethical and moral" sporting bodies who just through athletes who perform under thier badges under busses. ??

What a fiasco.

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The ASA and the She-Man knew it's gender before the participation in a Women only international sporting event - gender tests were done in SA at the insistence of the IAAF long before the competition in Germany.
The ASA and the She-Man chose to keep the SA gender test results a secret in the hopes of winning a gold medal, and hoped the IAAF would possibly overlook the gender issue that was raised prior to the event - pretty dumb of them.

This means she is a man.

JHatman said:

I'll never ever forget what Malema said about us "white people" when Semenya landed at the airport and I've never found anything else said by anyone from the ANC more disturbing than his comments, how someone is more than willing to clock up political points at the expense of not just white people in general, but against the entire sporting institution and against this country as a whole.

Malema is a corrupt snake, a manipulator and a lier and everything about him just wreaks deception. Everything wrong about all of Africa is epitomized in one person and how he can be in such high position in this government is something that should worry all of us. He needs to be removed like a thorn.

Click to expand...

He can say what he wants but facts stand that he kissed a MAN open mouth on stage in front of millions.


Wonder if there is a word in pedi 'Julias is gay'