theGrio

Back to the Top

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Home
  • Entertainment
    • Music
    • The Dish
  • Health
    • Ask Dr. Ty
    • Black Men’s Health
    • Black Women and Breast Cancer
    • Back to School Health
  • Living
    • Travel and Leisure
    • Living Forward
    • Books
  • Politics
    • Perry on Politics
  • Sports
  • News
    • Good News
  • Opinion

News

South African track star is a hermaphrodite, report says

by theGrio via AP | September 10, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Comments
Print
Semenya__Wils.jpg

Related Posts

  • Hope for South Africa AIDS fight, researchers say
  • In South Africa, women want a World Cup boost
  • Track star suspended for seeking male enhancement
  • Obama sending 5 US military officers to South Sudan
  • South African to double HIV patient treatment

SYDNEY (AP) — World 800-meter champion Caster Semenya of South Africa has male and female sexual organs, the Sydney Morning Herald said on Friday, posing an ethical and political quandary for athletics’ ruling body.

The Herald said extensive physical examinations of 18-year-old Semenya ordered by the IAAF have shown she is technically a hermaphrodite.

Medical reports indicate she has no ovaries, but rather has internal male testes, which are producing large amounts of testosterone.

The newspaper said the IAAF was trying to contact Semenya to inform her of the results. After dominating her race at the world titles in Berlin last month, Semenya was given blood and chromosome tests as well as a gynecological examination.

“This is a medical issue and not a doping issue where she was deliberately cheating,” IAAF spokesman Nick Davies was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“These tests do not suggest any suspicion of deliberate misconduct but seek to assess the possibility of a potential medical condition which would give Semenya an unfair advantage over her competitors. There is no automatic disqualification of results in a case like this.”

The IAAF has said Semenya would probably keep her medal because the case was not related to a drug matter. But the Herald said an alternative possibility was to award a second gold to the runner-up, Janeth Jepkosgei from Kenya.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

  • SOUTH_AFRICA_SEMENYAS_Wils.jpg
    Next Story:

    Race was never a factor in track star's gender query

  • Health_Care_Heckling_Wils.jpg
    Previous Story:

    Outburst was low blow in an already lowbrow debate

Filed in: News, Top Stories | Related Topics: Caster Semenya, Gender, Hermaphrodite, Runner, South Africa, Track
  • Learn about our User Panel

    Read More
  • New Stories on theGrio

    • First little victim of Oklahoma tornado identified First little victim of Oklahoma tornado identified
    • Garcia sorry for Tiger Woods ‘fried chicken’ joke Garcia sorry for Tiger Woods ‘fried chicken’ joke
    • Family: woman murdered while on the phone with 911 Family: woman murdered while on the phone with 911
    • Op-ed: GOP’s ‘mad men’ fail to woo black voters Op-ed: GOP’s ‘mad men’ fail to woo black voters
    • Tyrese and Ludacris: ‘We want Halle’
    • Rapper Chief Keef arrested…again
    • Zoe Saldana, Nina Simone and the erasure of black women in film
    • Lawyer: No background check done on Michael Jackson doctor
  • What Your Friends Are Reading

  • More from theGrio

More Stories on theGrio

Top News

Politics

  • President Barack Obama (Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar-Pool/Getty Images)

    White House aides learned of IRS details in April, but didn't tell Obama

  • Obama to visit South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania

  • 2014 could be a banner year for black candidates

  • Supreme Court won't get involved in Mississippi redistricting

» Read More in Politics

Business

  • cash-16x9.jpg

    Payday loans: A debt trap in disguise

  • Tiger Woods makes a comeback on the course, and in video game sales

  • A timeless classic: Top career lessons from ‘The Great Gatsby’

  • Boyz II Men appear in new Old Navy commercial

» Read More in Business

Living

  • Alia Jones-Harvey

    Young black producer shakes up Great White Way

  • Essence, MSNBC unite for live coverage of the 2013 Essence Fest

  • Black anti-abortion activists see 'houses of horror' everywhere

  • Charmin bear charms autistic boy

» Read More in Living

Inspiration

  • Graduate Frederick Anderson stands in the pouring rain as President Barack Obama acknowledges him during his Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony address Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. After a difficult childhood Shelton graduating Phi Beta Kappa and is on his way to Harvard Law School. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

    Obama speech makes Morehouse grads 'proud'

  • Twins named Spelman valedictorians

  • DC Central Kitchen helps people struggling to join workforce

  • Man refuses to let disability hamper ability to teach

» Read More in Inspiration

Entertainment

  • Singer Kelly Rowland arrives at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 19, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

    'X-Factor' close to signing Kelly Rowland as judge

  • Plaxico Burress launches luxury sock line

  • R&B singer Sammie talks new music and growing up in the industry

  • 'Motown' star delivers as Diana Ross

» Read More in Entertainment

News

  • U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

    Beam her up: Gabby Douglas is back in the gym

  • Slain LGBT mayoral candidate's family demands answers

  • NYC: No racial motivation in stop-frisk tactic

  • Cops: Men burst in, beat up disabled veteran in Philly

» Read More in News

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Politics
  • Living
  • Video
  • Inspire
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • News
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with TheGrio
  • About
©2013 NBCUniversal
Powered by WordPress.com VIP