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The International Association of Athletics Federation, the governing body behind Berlin's olympics, have asked the South African athletics federation to conduct a gender verification test on 18-year-old 800m favourite, Caster Semenya.

The request comes amid concerns she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman - because she is a man.

"It's a difficult scenario," reflects BBC commentator Steve Cram on BBC Two. "The IAAF cannot do anything unless one of the other competing nations lodges a protest."

However, the athlete – who is scheduled to tun this evening – will still be able to compete in the race due to a lack of evidence.

"The situation today is that we don't have any conclusive evidence that she not be allowed to run, so it would be totally wrong to take a decision such as to withdraw an athlete from the field," Nick Davies, the IAAF spokesman, told The Times.

"It is a medical issue, it's not an issue of cheating. Again it is stressed in a general sense, we have to be sensitive to this, this is a health issue, this is a human individual who was born as a woman, has grown all her life as a woman and is now in a position where this is being questioned.

"There is a need of course to make sure the rules are followed and the rules are very clear that women should compete in women's competitions, so yes of course, we're taking it absolutely seriously.

"But we're also doing that in a rigorous, fair-minded way. We have to wait until the process is completed however long it takes. I believe it will be a matter of weeks rather than months, but that is speculation."

Ref :pinkpaper