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R/£ Caster's ultimate humiliation
They put her feet up in stirrups and photographed herSeptember 16, 2009 Edition 4
Karyn Maughan, Gill GIfford and reuters
Caster Semenya was subjected to a humiliating two-hour gender examination that included having her genitals photographed.
Her former coach Wilfred Daniels told The Star today the athlete was "distressed and humiliated" by the experience.
During the ordeal her internal organs were scanned and she was examined while her feet were put into stirrups.
And this, Daniels stressed, was done at the behest of Athletics South Africa (ASA) which has repeatedly denied it has tested her.
"The worst part was that she thought she was going for doping tests... she was in no way prepared for what happened," Daniels said.
This was in direct contravention of International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) rules, he said.
Daniels claims ASA's general manager Molatelo Malehopo ordered tests to be done on Semenya in South Africa before the world championships.
"The truth will come out when Caster finally gets the chance to say what happened," Daniels said.
He himself says he is prepared to undergo a lie detector test to prove that his claims are not false.
The Star phoned Semenya this morning to confirm her experience but she said she couldn't talk because "I am going to classes now".
The athlete is currently studying for exams at the University of Pretoria.
Following the first gender examination on Semenya, which took place at the Medforum Clinic in Sunnyside before Semenya left South Africa to compete in Berlin, the athlete was so distressed that she SMSed her roommates and friends about what had happened.
Less than a month later, and a day before she won gold in the 800m race in Berlin, Semenya's ordeal was repeated in the hands of IAAF doctors.
And again, says Daniels, no one briefed the athlete about what was going to happen to her and why.
"I had to go to her and talk with her about what had happened...
"We were at the track two hours before the final and I took her to quiet spot to talk to her.
"I told her that people were saying things about her and questioning her gender but that she needed to understand that we believed she was a woman who had the right to compete and we were proud of her."
According to Daniels: "I told her 'you mustn't feel ashamed or guilty, this is not your fault and I want you to go out there and compete ... your country is proud of you'."
Semenya responded, Daniels said, with a quiet, "Thank you coach, I really appreciate this".
Beeld newspaper reported today that during a debate with Daniels on Radio Metro last night ASA chairman Leonard Chuene continued to insist that no gender tests had been ordered, nor had Semenya been subjected to these.
He said such testing was not in line with South Africa's constitution, and ASA had never paid for anything like that.
The newspaper claimed that sources confirmed that only two people had been present during the tests - her coach Michael Seme and Dr Harold Adams, South Africa's team doctor.
Adams, who advised ASA that Semenya should not take to the track in Berlin, has yet to break his silence on his role in the debacle.
Daniels was reported to have said that it no longer mattered what the IAAF planned to reveal on November 20 as he believed Semenya's athletic career was over.
u See pages 7 and 14
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