IAAF Offers To Cover Athelete’s Gender Surgery If Needed, Requested

The 18-year old South African runner, Caster Semenya, was subjected to extensive gender tests following questions regarding her gender.

The IAAF is still awaiting the final results of the gender verification test carried out on the South African teenager during the World Championships in Berlin in August, though leaked reports have indicated that she is a hermaphrodite with internal testes and has three times the normal level of testosterone for a female.

If that is confirmed by the panel of scientists studying her condition, then the issue for the IAAF will be whether her raised testosterone gives her an unfair advantage over her rivals – a situation that would require remedial treatment if she wishes to race again in women’s competitions.

But there is also a concern for the athlete’s health because internal testes carry a heightened risk of testicular cancer.

The decision whether to have surgery will be Semenya’s but an IAAF insider has confirmed that the world governing body has offered to foot the bill for any procedure.

There will, however, be no public announcement about her medical condition, allowing the 18 year-old to consider her options in private.

Whatever she decides, it will have no impact on the result of the women’s 800 metres final in Berlin, where Semenya was the runaway winner. [FULL STORY]