Perhaps the greatest scandal of all is that a young athlete, raised in poverty in one of South Africa’s northern villages, who trained with such palpable devotion to reach the top, has been humiliated before the eyes of the world in her moment of triumph.

Yes, the IAAF has an obligation to investigate any alleged instances of gender ambiguity, not least because of a duty of fairness to other athletes. Yes, these tests are necessarily intrusive and wide-ranging since the concept of gender has many inter-connecting facets. Yes, nobody should be able to duck such tests regardless of circumstances.
But was it necessary for these deeply personal issues to be paraded before the world, subjecting Caster Semenya to forensic scrutiny and speculation of a kind that must have led not merely to deep anxiety but also intense embarrassment? Could these investigations not have taken place in private with the authorities refusing to comment on whether they were even taking place?
Could they not have worked their way through the gender-verification process, only breaking cover if the athlete failed the test? Should this confidentiality not be part and parcel of IAAF procedure? In short, could this not have been handled with infinitely greater sensitivity, given the incalculable trauma that Semenya has now had to endure?
Matters have not been helped by the crass comments of some of Semenya’s fellow athletes. Mariya Savinova, the Russian who was fifth, raised doubts over the winner’s gender and Elisa Piccione, the Italian who finished sixth, was more scathing. “For me, she is not a woman,” she said.
That Piccione felt entitled to make such a judgment without access to chromosomal evidence, and in the knowledge that her allegations would cause distress to a fellow competitor, is saddening.
Others have made equally crude comments about Semenya’s physical appearance and bearing, seemingly unaware that a deep voice and facial hair are perfectly compatible with being a woman.
This ought to have been an uplifting story of how an 18-year-old sports science student from Pretoria University, who grew up in Ga-Masehlong, a village near the northern city of Polokwane, became world champion.
It ought to have been an inspirational story of personal triumph against the odds. It ought to have been a story of hope and optimism, only morphing into something different in the event of a failed test. It is difficult to suppress the feeling that, whatever happens hereafter, a young and vulnerable athlete has been cruelly let down by the very authorities that ought to have protected her.
(Source: Times Online)-
Photo: South Africa's gold medal winner Caster Semenya displays her medal after the ceremony for the Women's 800m final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber