welcomewiki has just posted in the Sports forum of Wiki Newforum under the title of South African official lied about Semenya gender test.
This thread is located at http://www.wikinewforum.com/showthread.php?t=11006
Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
Image: http://static.ibnlive.com/pix/sitepix/08_2009/caster-semenya2-313.jpg
*Pretoria:* The president of Athletics South Africa has admitted that he lied about gender tests on runner Caster Semenya before her gold-medal win at the World Athletics Championships last month.
The national sports body has always denied that it agreed to the tests before the race in Berlin, Germany -- an event that kicked off international controversy over the 18-year-old Semenya's gender.
But after South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper printed e-mails on Friday showing that ASA President Leonard Chuene was aware of the tests, he held a news conference to apologise.
"I now realize that it was an error of judgment and I would like to apologise unconditionally," Chuene said on Saturday, according to South Africa's SAPA news agency.
After receiving the results of the tests, the South Africa team doctor requested the 18-year-old Semenya be withdrawn from the 800-meter race she ended up winning, Chuene said.
But Chuene said he refused to do it because the sport's international governing body did not request withdrawal. He also said withdrawing Semenya might have looked bad.
"If we did not let her run, we would be confirming that she is not normal," Chuene told the news conference in the capital, Pretoria.
The e-mails printed by the Mail & Guardian are an exchange between team doctor Harold Adams and ASA General Manager Molatelo Malehopo, with Chuene copied in.
"After thinking about the current confidential matter I would suggest that we make the following decisions," Adams wrote on August 5, more than a week before the Berlin race.
"1. We get a (gynecological) opinion and take it to Berlin. 2. We do nothing and I will handle these issues if they come up in Berlin. Please think and get back to me ASAP."
An e-mail response from Malehopo to Adams, sent the same day, says, "I will suggest that you go ahead with the necessary tests that the IAAF might need."
The controversy over Semenya erupted after she crushed her rivals in the 800 meters and secured victory in one minute, 55.45 seconds -- the best women's time in the world this year.
Semenya's masculine build and dominant performance fueled existing questions about her gender, and the International Association of Athletics Federations -- which oversees the sport worldwide -- ordered tests on her.
***************
