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Caster Semenya
Caster Semenya withdraws from race in South Africa• Leaked sex test reveals she is a hermaphrodite, say reports
• South Africa minister threatens 'war' if she is disqualified
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David Smith in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Friday 11 September 2009 17.04 BST Article history
Caster Semenya has pulled out of a race in South Africa after results of a sex test were leaked. Photograph: Rainer Jensen/EPA

Athlete Caster Semenya has pulled out of her return to competitive sport amid growing fears over the psychological impact of rumours about her sex.

The 18-year-old withdrew from a cross-country race in South Africa tomorrow after it was widely reported that a leaked sex test reveals she is a hermaphrodite. Her coach, Michael Seme, said she will not run because she is "not feeling well".

South Africa condemned the international media reports as an invasion of the teenager's privacy and threatened a "third world war" if the women's 800m champion is disqualified from athletics.

The process by which Semenya's most intimate physical details have become a public talking point intensified when Australia's Sydney Daily Telegraph said that she had no womb or ovaries, but internal male testes which were producing extraordinary amounts of testosterone.

The strain of the ordeal began to show on Semenya's family. When her mother, Dorcas, was contacted by one newspaper for a response, she wept and demanded: "What do you want me to do?" Semenya's father, Jacob, said people who believed his daughter was not a woman were sick. "They are crazy. Are they God?"

Both the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the media were condemned today for failing to respect Semenya's human rights.

Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said: "We have a girl who has performed and won. I don't think we should play with people's lives and privacy. Why should we not respect the privilege between doctor and patient?"

His sports minister, Makhenkesi Stofile, said it would be unjust for the IAAF to exclude Semenya from competing as a woman. "I think it would be the third world war," he said. "We will go to the highest levels in contesting such a decision. I think it would be totally unfair and totally unjust."

Stofile said his department was consulting a top legal firm about action against the IAAF over human rights violations. "What is disconcerting is that the pattern being followed in releasing these purported results is the same as the one being used when Ms Semenya's humiliation started," he said.

"We see the media being the ones breaking the story, while those close to the matter are pleading ignorance. Just like before, Caster's human rights are not respected at all. The humiliation she and her family suffered is still continuing. We are even seeing the greed factor starting to outstrip genuine concerns for her rights and future wellbeing."

Stofile continued: "No one doubts her gender anymore. Now the issue is of the percentages of her gender; this is as disgusting as it is unethical. Caster is a woman, she remains our heroine. We must protect her."

A group from Semenya's home province, Limpopo, urged all participants in the controversy to consider the teenager's feelings. The Limpopo Progressive Women's Movement said: "We want to urge all role players in this sad saga to be more sensitive in how they handle it going forward. Stop the leaks, stop the double standards and stop hurting Caster and her family ... How can we victimise a national hero like this?"

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of former president Nelson Mandela, joined the condemnation. "The poor innocent child is a victim of all this, and it is not of her making," she told South Africa's Star newspaper. "I do not understand how any sane person can blame this child for a biological problem which is not of her making."

The IAAF, facing another embarrassing leak, declined to confirm or deny the Australian report but said it should be treated with caution. The body's spokesman, Nick Davies, said it had received the results of Semenya's tests but would not release them until 20-21 November.

"I simply haven't seen the results," Davies wrote in an email to the Associated Press. "We have received the results from Germany, but they now need to be examined by a group of experts and we will not be in a position to speak to the athlete about them for at least a few weeks.

"After that, depending on the results, we will meet privately with the athlete to discuss further action."

After dominating her race at the world championships in Berlin last month, Semenya underwent blood and chromosome tests, as well as a gynaecological examination. The IAAF has said Semenya probably would keep her gold medal because the case was not related to a doping matter. But it is less clear whether she would be allowed to compete again if she proves to be a hermaphrodite.