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| Family insist SA runner is female | Family insist SA runner is female |
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| The family of the new 800m world champion, South African Caster Semenya, has insisted she is a woman. | The family of the new 800m world champion, South African Caster Semenya, has insisted she is a woman. |
| She has been dogged by controversy about her gender and the International Association of Athletics Federations has asked her to take a gender test. | She has been dogged by controversy about her gender and the International Association of Athletics Federations has asked her to take a gender test. |
| "I know she's a woman I raised her myself," the 18-year-old's grandmother told South Africa's Times newspaper. | "I know she's a woman I raised her myself," the 18-year-old's grandmother told South Africa's Times newspaper. |
| Her mother Dorcus Semenya told The Star paper that doubts about her daughter's gender were motivated by "jealousy". | Her mother Dorcus Semenya told The Star paper that doubts about her daughter's gender were motivated by "jealousy". |
| "If you go at my home village and ask any of my neighbours, they would tell you that Mokgadi [Caster Semenya] is a girl," she said. | "If you go at my home village and ask any of my neighbours, they would tell you that Mokgadi [Caster Semenya] is a girl," she said. |
| If the teasing hurt her, she kept the hurt to herself and didn't show what she was feeling Maphuthi Sekgala Caster Semenya's grandmother Testing times for SA champion | If the teasing hurt her, she kept the hurt to herself and didn't show what she was feeling Maphuthi Sekgala Caster Semenya's grandmother Testing times for SA champion |
| "They know because they helped raise her. People can say whatever they like but the truth will remain, which is that my child is a girl. I am not concerned about such things," she said. | "They know because they helped raise her. People can say whatever they like but the truth will remain, which is that my child is a girl. I am not concerned about such things," she said. |
| Her 80-year-old grandmother Maphuthi Sekgala said Ms Semenya had been teased when younger for her boyish looks. | Her 80-year-old grandmother Maphuthi Sekgala said Ms Semenya had been teased when younger for her boyish looks. |
| She was also the only girl in the football team in Fairlie, a village in South Africa's northern Limpopo Province, Ms Sekgala told The Times. | She was also the only girl in the football team in Fairlie, a village in South Africa's northern Limpopo Province, Ms Sekgala told The Times. |
| "If the teasing hurt her, she kept the hurt to herself and didn't show what she was feeling," she said. | "If the teasing hurt her, she kept the hurt to herself and didn't show what she was feeling," she said. |
| Ms Semenya won gold at the Athletics World Championships in Berlin on Wednesday, leaving her rivals trailing as she won in a time of one minute, 55.45 seconds. | Ms Semenya won gold at the Athletics World Championships in Berlin on Wednesday, leaving her rivals trailing as she won in a time of one minute, 55.45 seconds. |
| South Africa's athletics federation also says it is "completely sure" that Ms Semenya is a female. | South Africa's athletics federation also says it is "completely sure" that Ms Semenya is a female. |
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