Caster Semenya to return to sport after gender controversy
The African runner Caster Semenya has been given the all-clear by the IAAF over her gender tests and will compete this month, her agent says.
Jukka Harkonen told Reuters that the athlete will take part in the Lappeenranta Games in Finland next week.
“If nothing extraordinary happens she will compete in Lappeenranta,” he said.
“She is suffering from mild flu, which is the only thing that could impact it, but we have booked flights and agreed on everything.”
He added that there was “no point” in going straight for big competitions right now and that Semenya needs to get “competition feeling from smaller ones”.
The 19-year-old has been out of the sport for 11 months after her gender came under scrutiny at the World Championships in Berlin last August,
Rumours spread about her masculine appearance and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) demanded she undergo gender tests after she won the 800m in 1min 55.45sec.
She was banned from competing by Athletics South Africa until her results came back.
Although she has been cleared, the IAAF will reportedly not release any more details of her results, which would have included physical and chromosomal checks.
