South African runner Caster Semanya to undergo “gender testing”

18-year-old South African athlete Caster Semenya is refuting claims that her extraordinary performance in races may be down to the fact that she’s not entirely female.

Semenya is strikingly muscular and angular, but her handlers insist that she is most certainly not a male.

Molatelo Malehopo, general manager of Athletics South Africa, said: ‘She is a female. We are completely sure about that and we wouldn’t have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts.

‘We have not been absent minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening.

‘We have not started testing and we have no plans to do.’

However, doubts remain about the “way she runs” and the Daily Mail cites sources saying she will indeed be tested for chromosomal abnormalities. Experts have said she could suffer from a rare disorder that causes her to exhibit traits present in both male and female genders.

Semenya rose to fame in July after clocking the best recorded time globally this year during the 800 meter race during the African Junior Championship.