/ 15 January 2010

No local races for Caster

Athlete Caster Semenya cannot compete in any races until a final decision is made on gender verification tests she was subjected to, South Africa’s Olympic governing body, Sascoc, said on Friday.

“Let’s be very clear on one thing. As things stand, Caster Semenya is not eligible to run in any sanctioned meeting or race.

“The matter over the results of her gender test are still sitting with the international parent association, the IAAF [International Association of Athletics Federations],” SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Gideon Sam said in a statement.

“They are still conducting their work and the process is ongoing. And we have to respect the privacy of the athlete, so any ‘confirmation’ is premature,” Sascoc said.

The body said it was still waiting for the IAAF to consult with Semenya and the matter was between them and her.

Irresponsible to compete
“When things are resolved we will all be in a better position, but until the case is closed, it would be irresponsible for us to clear our world champion to compete again,” Sam said.

The organisation said Semenya’s coach Michael Seme acted “irresponsibly and without jurisdiction” in saying she was going to compete against women in the forthcoming Athletics SA season.

Earlier this week, Seme announced that Semenya would compete again this year, but when asked for clarification on Friday said: “I don’t want to comment.”

Seme said he was en-route to Bloemfontein for an awards ceremony, accompanied by Semenya, but did not want to discuss that either.

Earlier in the week he was quoted as saying: “She will run in at least three Yellow Pages races this year.”

He continued: “We don’t have the fixtures yet, but we are sure she will run in the first meeting.”

Many invites
He added that she was also planning to compete in international events.

“She received many invites after winning the world title, and even before that, but because of what happened she chose not to take part. But this year is different and she is planning to compete in some of those events.”

IAAF spokesperson Nick Davies would say only: “The official position of the IAAF is that we are not making any comment until we have resolved this case.”

Following a significant improvement in Semenya’s time last year at a Berlin race, an Australian publication reported that her body contained elements of both the male and female genders.

After initially denying that they had run gender-verification tests on her, Athletics South Africa (ASA) finally admitted to doing so and apologised.

The top structure of the athletics body was subsequently suspended.

Beeld reported that the IAAF had no objection to her competing in the forthcoming Yellow Pages series. — Sapa