GENDER tests on controversial South African athlete Caster Semenya were put on ice on Tuesday after ANC top shot Winnie Madikizela-Mandela declared: “They can stuff their insults, this is our little girl and nobody is going to perform any test on her.”
The 18-year-old was asked to undergo testing after her remarkable improvements in performance in recent months and before winning the 800m gold medal at the World Championships in Berlin last week.
The complex procedure will be carried out by medical experts including an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist, the International Association of Athletics Federations said.
But that may now be in doubt after South African politicians and sports administrators raised objections.
President Jacob Zuma said she “has a right to human dignity”.
Athletics SA president Leonard Chuene said: "We are not going to allow Europeans to describe and define our child... we will define our child.”
Semenya returned home to a hero’s welcome, and was given R60,000 by the ruling African National Congress’ Youth League to “relax”.
But the swirling controversy around her took a new twist on Tuesday when the BBC reported that preliminary medical tests conducted before Berlin showed she had three times more than the normal female level of testosterone in her body.
The preliminary tests were carried out when questions arose about her radically improved race times, her muscular build and deep voice.
Defiant ... Zuma vowed to fight to protect Semenya's dignity
It also emerged that the IAAF’s plan to conduct further tests, including a gender examination, on her was leaked when a fax was sent to the wrong person.
Chuene told a news conference at the Oliver Tambo International Airport that he had resigned his seat on the IAAF board in protest against the association's treatment of Semenya.
"It will not be fair for me to attack the IAAF as a council member and representative of South Africa. It is a conflict of interest," Leonard Chuene said.
He defended the athlete, insisting that questions about her gender were only raised when she started winning.
"We have not once ... doubted her," he said.
"It's very simple - she's a girl. We took this child to Poland to the junior championship under the IAAF. Why was there no story about it? She was accepted there.
"No one said anything there because she did not do anything special. She is the same girl."
Lamine Diack, the IAAF president, said the affair was handled badly.
She said: “I deeply regret that confidentiality was breached in this case and that the IAAF were forced into a position of having to confirm that gender testing was being carried out on this young athlete.
“It is a regrettable matter and I have requested an internal inquiry to ensure that procedures are tightened up and this never happens again.”
But that will not mollify the South Africans who were determined to shower their new golden girl in glory amid a defiant display of patriotism as she arrived home with the rest of the athletes who took part at the World Championships.
Many were encouraged by women's rights and political groups to wave banners, with hundreds packing out a balcony in the arrivals hall at the airport as the South African team's overnight flight arrived from Germany.
More than 100 police officers were drafted in to control crowds who danced to frenzied horn blowing.
The athlete's father Jacob Semenya, 57, said: "It was an incredible day, and very noisy.”
Prison worker Abigail Mqomboti, who took the day off work to attend the welcome party, said: "The way she is treated is unfair. But whether she is a man or woman she is still a champion."
Yvonne Maake, 21, added: "We want to show her support and that we love her, so she can be proud."
Later Semenya and her family were greeted by South African president Jacob Zuma in the capital Pretoria.
Speaking at the presidential guest house, the runner joked about a text message of advice her coach had sent her before last week's 800 metres final. He wrote: “Last 200, kill them.”
Zuma said: “It is one thing to seek to ascertain whether or not an athlete has an unfair advantage over others, but it is another to publicly humiliate an honest professional and competent athlete.
"Miss Semenya has reminded the world of the importance of the right to human dignity and privacy which should be enjoyed by all human beings."
Hero's welcome ... Over a thousand people received Semenya at airport
Semenya is not accused of trying to cheat, but of perhaps unknowingly having a medical condition that blurs her gender and gives her an unfair advantage over other female runners.
A leading Australian health researcher said Wednesday that Semenya has been crucified prematurely.
Susan Davis, a doctor and leading women's health researcher at Monash University, said there was a very large range of so-called "normal" testosterone levels that could naturally occur in women.
Professor Davis also said there were medical conditions that might naturally produce higher than average testosterone levels in a woman but in no way constitute gender ambiguity.
"To give [Semenya] the benefit of the doubt, there are conditions in women that are associated with higher levels of testosterone that are quite normal [and occur] without them taking drugs or being a man," she said.
The most common such hormonal condition is polycystic ovarian syndrome, which affects between five and 10 per cent of Australians, the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association of Australia says.
"In our society it's treated [with medication] because no one wants to have a hairy face or acne," Professor Davis said.
She said she worked with two female athletes with the condition.
"I have to be careful because, if I treat them to lower their testosterone levels and reduce excess facial hair or something, their sporting prowess diminishes," Professor Davis said.
"But they don't take testosterone, it's their natural biology."
In the absence of definitive test results, it was not possible to rule out that Semenya had a similar condition or naturally occurring higher than average testosterone levels, she said.
"There's always the possibility of testosterone abuse but one doesn't go to the world championships taking it, knowing that if you win you'll be tested," Professor Davis said.
"I think people should hold back a little bit ... She might just be a female with biological variations that shouldn't detract from her competing as a female."