Gender-row runner Caster Semenya 'is a hermaphrodite with no womb or ovaries'
Last updated at 10:26 PM on 10th September 2009
The runner at the centre of the 'is she or isn't he?' gender controversy has both male and female organs, it was reported last night.
Caster Semenya, the 18-year-old South African women's world champion, is a hermaphrodite, according to an Australian newspaper.
It said the world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, is expected to disqualify Semenya from future events and advise an operation because the condition carries grave health risks.
Shock claims: Caster Semenya celebrates her 800m victory in Berlin last month amid an international row over whether she is a man or a woman
The runner, who was raised as a girl by her family, has undergone a series of tests to try to end the speculation about her sex following her gold medal win in Berlin last month.
Quoting a source closely involved with the IAAF, the Sydney Daily Telegraph claimed the tests showed the runner has no womb or ovaries.
Caster posed for a glamorous photoshoot in a South African magazine this week
It said she has three times more testosterone than a normal female and as a result of the discovery about her sex could have the gold medal taken away from her.
It added that Semenya had internal testes - male sexual organs which produce testosterone and which in turn produce muscle bulk, body hair and a deep voice.
Semenya, said the paper, is so far unaware of the tests identifying her as a hermaphrodite.
The tests examined her physical make-up as well as her chromosomes and DNA.
The process involved a physical medical evaluation and assessments by a gynaecologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.
The IAAF confirmed it had received a report into the athlete's gender but refused to give details. A spokesman said the data would be studied by experts before Semenya was told, within a fortnight, of the outcome in a private call.
He added: 'It is likely that we will be in a position to then decide on the course of action and any public announcement.'
South Africa has strongly defended the runner against claims that she won her medal unfairly because she was really a man.
Leonard Chuene, president of Athletics South Africa, said the organisation would advise the teenager to ignore all speculation until she had been officially informed of the results of the tests.
He said: 'Our people will speak to Caster this evening and ensure that she puts these rumours from her mind. We stand fully behind her as our athlete.'
Semenya's uncle, Lesiba Rammabi, said her relatives had been 'very humiliated' by the newspaper report and added that whatever the outcome of the medical examinations, her family would never accept she was not female.
Ooh poor girl! I sympathise with her. Hermaphrodite ni kwamba ana reproductive organs za kiume na kike pia. Mi naona kama wazazi wameona ana uke wakati tangu akiwa mdogo kibinaadam tunamtambua kama mwanamke. Suala la testerone kuzidi na uwepo wa internal male organs za kiume ambazo kwa nje labda hatuzioni naona lisitumike kama kigezo cha kumpokonya uchampion wake. Ila ngojen tusubir hiyo official habar itakakapotoka.
Thanx
Semenya's uncle, Lesiba Rammabi, said her relatives had been 'very humiliated' by the newspaper report and added that whatever the outcome of the medical examinations, her family would never accept she was not female.
kama yeye ni hermaphrodite, je watamuachia hiyo medali yake au wataichukua coz upande mwingine ni mwanamke!
Huu ni ukiukwaji mkubwa wa haki za binadamu. Semanya ni msichana kwa kuwa ndivyo alivyo lelewa na kujijua toka awali. Haya mambo ya sayansi ni upuuzi mtupu. Itamuathiri sana kisaikolojia na hawa jamaa lazima wafunguliwe mshitaka.
Sikubaliani na wewe. Ni vyema tukubaliane na uchunguzi na ushauri wa kitaalamu hata kwenye mambo ya michezo, ndio maana watu wanashinda maabara kuvumbua mambo mapya ili yatumike..sio yabaki vitabuni tu. Waafrika tuanze sasa kufuta dhana ya kulalama tunaonewa na ku-embrace scientific advancements na kuzitumia.
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ni suala gumu kukubali ukweli huo,lakini ni tatizo ambalo lipo.nilipokuwa o-level hiki kitu niliwahi kukisoma kwenye topic moja ya genetics kuhusu watu wa aina hii.na nakumbuka ilieleza kuwa watu wa aina hii hawaruhusiwi kushiriki michezoni kwa sababu wanakuwa na added advantage.kama ni kweli nauona mwisho wa carrier yake.
Hapo nilipo bold nimepata utata kidogo, au labla Biology hiyo ulisomea nje ya Tanzania which I think pia haitakiwi kuwa na tofauti. genetics ni subtopic tu katika "heredity and development of organisms" ambayo inaangalia zaidi genotype of an organism "that is the class to which that organism belongs as determined by the description of the actual physical material made up of DNA that was passed to the organism by its parents at the organism's conception". Sasa hebu tueleze je wazazi wa Semenya ni hermaphroids?. May be unachanganya na topic ya Reproduction mkuu.
kama yeye ni hermaphrodite, je watamuachia hiyo medali yake au wataichukua coz upande mwingine ni mwanamke!
Inabidi wengi warudi kwenye basic biology, defects hutokea kwenye segregation and assortment of chromosomes from parents during meiosis....suala na wazazi kuwa hermaphroids is out of question!
South African officials have stepped up their defence of Caster Semenya, warning of a "third world war" if the row over her sex stops her competing.
The 18-year-old 800m world champion has had medical tests following doubts about whether she is actually female.
South Africa's sports minister, the Reverend Makhenkesi Stofile, said: "Caster is a woman, she remains our heroine. We must protect her."
@ Abdul nakubaliana na wewe 100%, but je tumueke ktk kundi gan sasa next time atakapotaka kushirik michezoni! Maana kwa wanaume pia hata fiti kwa kua ana uke according to her parents. Au unataka anyimwe kabisa ambitions zake za kuwa athlet?