Caster Semanya To Keep Gold Medal

South African champion sprinter Caster Semanya, who rocked the sports world this summer when she was revealed to be intersex, will be allowed to keep the gold medal she earned at the world championships. Semanya is waiting for a further decision on whether she may continue to compete as a woman.

South African Strip Club Billboard Mocks Champion Sprinter Caster Semanya

This cruel billboard mocking Caster Semanya was posted by a South African strip club chain. Ad Week reports:

Not surprisingly, the billboard drew complaints, at which Teazers owner Lolly Jackson scoffed at length. He first said the Semenya situation was "the furthest thing from my mind" when he made the ad. Then he added: "I do not want anyone coming here [to Teazers] with the idea that we do not have women. We have women, 100 percent women here. I did a test on them, I am a professional, and they are 100 percent women." If that didn't turn people off enough, he then insulted both the advertising watchdog ("a bunch of idiots doing a worthless job") and the original complainant ("maybe she is fat and ugly"). The watchdog hasn't acted yet, but I hope they rule against him just to hear his response.

Caster Semenya On Suicide Watch

Days after being outed worldwide as being intersex, South African world champion sprinter Caster Semenya has been placed on a suicide watch.

The Daily Star quoted officials as saying that psychologists are caring the 18-year-old round-the- clock after it was claimed tests had proved she was a hermaphrodite. Leaked details of the probe by the ­International Association of ­Athletics Federations showed the 800m starlet had male and female sex organs - but no womb. Lawmaker Butana Komphela, chair of South Africa's sports committee, was quoted as saying: "She is like a raped person. She is afraid of herself and does not want anyone near her. If she commits suicide, it will be on all our heads. The best we can do is protect her and look out for her during this trying time." South African athletics officials confirmed Semenya is now receiving trauma counselling at the University of Pretoria.

Report: Castor Semenya Is Intersex

Gender tests of world champion South African sprinter Caster Semenya reveal that she is intersex. According to the results of tests ordered by the International Amateur Athletics Foundation, Semenya has no uterus, no ovaries, and internal male testes producing high levels of testosterone.

The IAAF says, "This is a medical issue and not a doping issue where she was deliberately cheating," and that there will be no automatic disqualification on these grounds. Semenya will probably be allowed to keep her gold medal, but a second gold may be awarded to the second-place winner from Kenya. No discussions have yet been had over whether Semenya will be allowed to continue to compete in women's events.

RELATED: The Intersex Society of North America notes that although the term "hermaphrodite" is commonly used to describe intersex people (and this is already happening with Semenya), hermaphrodite literally means "fully male and fully female," which is a physical impossibility. "Intersex" is the proper way to describe a person who may have one or several of a very broad range of atypical gender characteristics, ranging from ambiguous or mixed external genitalia, internal conditions (as in Semanya's case), or an atypical chromosonal makeup. Some intersex characteristics are extremely rare, others occur much more frequently, and studies indicate that some aspect of being intersex occurs in about 1 out of 100 people.

South African Sprinter Caster Semenya Gets Girly Makeover, But Why?

As she awaits the results of her "gender testing" at the hands of track and field officials, world champion South African sprinter Caster Semenya has been given a girly-girl makeover for a magazine cover meant to "silence her critics" who claim she's a man. Via Yahoo Sports:

For the shoot Semenya sported a less ambiguous hair style, a designer black dress, jewelry, makeup and nail polish. Despite what you think about the whole situation, it's safe to say that this is the first time that Semenya has truly looked like an 18-year old woman. She says she likes the look too. Semenya told the BBC: "I'd like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance. I am who I am and I'm proud of myself." Let's hope this is what she wants though. Nothing Semenya has done in the past month has suggested that she likes to wear dresses, get manicures and let down her hair. After the controversy broke, she kept her cornrows, wore baggy clothes and pounded her chest in victory like a college football cornerback. When she returned to her hometown, she was dressed the same way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. That seemed to be Semenya's natural inclination. This feels forced. Hopefully I'm wrong. But if Semenya was pressured to do this to silence her critics, then this is a sad story rather than one of retribution. The opinions of a few jealous coaches shouldn't have an effect on how an 18-year old carries herself. If Semenya wants to wear dresses then she should. But if she wants to run around in track suits, what's the problem with that?

Kudos to Yahoo Sports writer Chris Chase for his sensitive observations. I also hope Ms. Semenya isn't being forced to deny what seems to be her natural butchness, just to satisfy the coaches of her vanquished opponents. On the upside, she looks great either way.

RELATED: One of Semenya's coaches has resigned "out of shame" because he told her she was being tested for possible doping violations, not that officials suspected she was not female.

Christian Athletic Group: Keep Trans People Out Of Competitive Sports

Well, you knew the Christian right just had to weigh on the situation faced by South African sprinter Caster Semenya. Some Jeebus-based track and field organization named 4 WINDS bleats:

The liberal San Francisco-based National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC) says the IAAF should "stay out of Caster Semenya's pants". "Your efforts to make champion Caster Semenya 'prove' she is a woman are shameful and unnecessary, and undermine the integrity and dignity of women athletes." 4 WINDS commends the IAAF for conducting future tests on Caster Semenya. In 2003, 4 WINDS was the only Christian organization protesting the International Olympic Committee's decision to allow transgender athletes in the Olympics after sexual reassignment surgery. 4 WINDS is not implying that Semenya is an athlete who is purposely cheating, but may be a victim of circumstances. We believe compassion is important, however, chromosome make-up should be the determining factor in these situations. When an athlete enters the international level, some rights are lost.

"Steve McConkey is the President of 4 WINDS, a Christian apologetics and track and field ministry. Steve and his wife have been in track and field ministries since 1981."

High Testosterone Levels Found In South African Sprinter Caster Semanya

Tests have revealed that South African sprinter Caster Semanya, who was accused of not being female after blowing away the competition at the track and field world finals, has three times the normal level of testosterone in her system. This does not necessarily prove that she has been doping as some women naturally have such a result. But very interestingly, it turns out her coach is the same former East German coach who was once accused of feeding so many steroids to a female athlete that she was "forced" to have sexual reassignment surgery and now lives as a man. More gender tests on Semanya are continuing, much to the outrage of her countrymen, who see racism in the investigation.

Berlin: Record-Setting Female Sprinter Accused Of Not Being Female

Teenage South African sprinter Caster Semanya "came out of nowhere" to set records at the track and field world championships in Berlin this week. But everybody is waiting for the result of a "gender test" given three weeks ago to determine if Semanya is literally woman enough to compete in female events.

About three weeks ago, the international federation asked South African track and field authorities to conduct the verification test. Semenya had burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of 1:56.72 at the African junior championships in Maruitius. Her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender. Ideally, any dispute surrounding an athlete is dealt with before a major competition. But Semenya’s stunning rise from unknown teenage runner to the favorite in the 800 happened almost overnight. That meant the gender test—which takes several weeks—could not be completed in time. Before the race, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies stressed this is a “medical issue, not an issue of cheating.” He said the “extremely complex” testing has begun. The process requires a physical medical evaluation and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert. South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane would not confirm or deny that Semenya was having such a test. “We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way,” Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said. “Our conscience is clear in terms of Caster. We have no reservations at all about that.”

Semenya will receive her gold medal in Berlin, but will be stripped of her win if test results are not to the satisfaction of sport officials.