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| ANC condemns athlete gender test | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| South Africa's ruling party has backed the new 800m world champion, Caster Semenya, condemning those who have raised doubts about her gender. | |
| The ANC called on South Africans to rally around "our golden girl". | |
| Her family has also insisted she is a woman, after the runner was told she must have a gender test by world athletics officials in Berlin. | |
| "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 newspaper that doubts about her daughter's gender were motivated by "jealousy". | Her mother Dorcus Semenya told the Star newspaper 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. |
| "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." | "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." |
| 'Masculine build' | |
| In a statement, the African National Congress condemned the speculation surrounding Ms Semenya, who won gold at the Athletics World Championships in Berlin on Wednesday, leaving her rivals trailing. | |
| 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 | |
| "Such comments can only serve to portray women as being weak," the ANC said. | |
| "Caster is not the only woman athlete with a masculine build and the International Association of Athletics Federation should know better," the statement said. | |
| In an interview in The Times, 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. | |
| "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. |
| 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. |
| What is your reaction to the issues in this story? Do you think Caster Semenya is being treated fairly? Send us your comments using the form below. | What is your reaction to the issues in this story? Do you think Caster Semenya is being treated fairly? Send us your comments using the form below. |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |