800m Womens Final Berlin Winner Caster Semenya

Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old South African, last night won gold in the 800 metres but she may be forced to return the medal if she fails a gender-verification test.

Semenya, unknown on the world stage until this week, is now a world champion but is probably already more notorious for the unfortunate situation where her sexuality has been officially questioned and where it is publicly known that she has been asked to undergo medical examination to prove that she is female.

Her victory last night was notably dominant, particularly for a newcomer, and comments afterwards from her beaten rivals emphasised the unpleasant situation in which she now finds herself. Mariya Savinova, the Russian who was fifth, raised doubts over the winner’s gender and Elisa Piccione, the Italian who finished sixth, was more damning. “For me, she is not a woman,” Piccione said. No one should be accusing Semenya of cheating, though. Instead, her strength and appearance have raised fears that she may have been born with a rare abnormality, where she has grown up with the genitalia of a woman but the chromosomes of a male.

The storm growing around her is such that last night’s race was a comparative moment’s calm. After she had beaten Kenya’s Janeth Jepkosgei and Britain’s Jenny Meadows into second and third respectively, she did half a lap of honour before being whisked out of the stadium, avoiding the media mixed zone and the winner’s press conference.