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Unconfirmed Reports: South African Runner May Be Intersexed

Caster Semenya's gender tests reveal a complex condition, raising ethical questions in sports without proven cheating. How will this affect her future?

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Trouble is mounting for the South African athlete who was suspected of having an unfair advantage in women's track events because of male characteristics. After 18-year-old Caster Semenya thumped the competition at an 800-meter race in Berlin, sports officials announced that Semenya would be subjected to a battery of tests to determine her gender. Now, unconfirmed sources have reported that the tests showed Semenya has both female and male reproductive organs, and her future in women's sports is in doubt. Newspapers in Australia reported that while Semenya's external genitalia is female, she doesn't have ovaries and instead has internal testes that produce the hormone testosterone. If the reports are accurate, Semenya probably benefited from that hormone boost by gaining muscle mass. But it

now seems clear that there is no disciplinary action to be taken, because even if Semenya has high male hormone levels, it is not because of medical ...

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