South African runner at center of gender controversy asks to put off university final exams

October 9th, 2009 Renewed calls for resignations in gender disputeJOHANNESBURG — Three South African track associations want the country's top officials in the sport to resign over the gender dispute involving world 800-meters champion Caster Semenya. The affiliates of Athletics South Africa — Boland, Eastern Province and Western Province — said Friday in a joint statement that the ASA board and senior management should "take collective responsibility" for the "gender row fiasco and resign with immediate effect." Semenya won the 800 at the Berlin world championships in August.

October 5th, 2009 Ruling party says Semenya should run as womanJOHANNESBURG — South Africa's governing party wants champion runner Caster Semenya to compete as a woman regardless of any gender tests. African National Congress party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said Monday that Semenya had been brought up as a girl and should therefore "continue to run as a woman." Semenya won the 800 meters at the world championships in August in Berlin.

September 25th, 2009 Ousting SAfrica track chief not raised at meetingJOHANNESBURG — Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene received a vote of confidence from the national track authority's members, even as politicians, union leaders, newspaper editorials and other sports bodies have called for him to be fired. Chuene has been under pressure after he admitted on Sept.

September 14th, 2009 SAfrican amputee runner faces assault chargesJOHANNESBURG — Famed amputee runner Oscar Pistorius has been charged with assault after a 19-year-old woman said she was injured at a party he hosted, but the athlete on Monday denied the allegations. The Paralympian star was arrested Saturday night during a function at his house in a golf estate near Pretoria.

September 2nd, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, has labelled Canada as "racist" for granting refugee status to a man who claimed he was persecuted in South Africa because he is white. Brandon Huntley, a 31-year-old South African who stayed illegally in Canada in 2006, after first arriving on a work permit as a carnival attendant, was awarded refugee status after complaining that he was mugged and stabbed in seven attempted robberies in South Africa.

August 28th, 2009 South African villagers praise world championGA-MASEHLONG, South Africa — Caster Semenya's grandmother remembers begging for money from friends and relatives to send the young runner to local track meets. On Friday she marveled at how far her granddaughter had come.

August 26th, 2009 Mandela meets runner at center of gender uproarJOHANNESBURG — Former President Nelson Mandela has congratulated South African runner Caster Semenya, whose dramatic improvement, deep voice and muscular build have sparked questions about her gender. The International Association of Athletics Federations initiated tests on the 18-year-old athlete after she won gold in the 800 meters at the world championships in Germany last week.

August 25th, 2009 South Africans rally for runner in gender debateJOHANNESBURG — Mobbed by a singing, dancing and horn-blowing crowd of supporters at Johannesburg's airport, South African runner Caster Semenya looked overwhelmed and a little terrified. The gold-medal-winning teenager at the center of an international controversy over her gender cried "Mama! Mama!" and reached out for her mother as police tried to clear a path through the throngs at the welcoming ceremony in the arrival area.

August 25th, 2009 Runner in gender controversy to get big welcomeJOHANNESBURG — South Africans sang, hooted and danced to show their support Tuesday as they waited for their champion runner embroiled in a gender controversy to come home. The mother and father of Caster Semenya, who is undergoing gender testing after questions arose about her muscular build and deep voice, were among some 1,000 fans at the Johannesburg airport Tuesday morning as the board showed the flight from Germany had landed.

August 24th, 2009 Big welcome for SA runner in gender controversyJOHANNESBURG — A big welcome is planned for 800-meter gold medalist Caster Semenya, who returns home to South Africa on Tuesday. South Africans have rallied behind the runner, who is undergoing gender testing after questions arose about her muscular build, deep voice — and spectacular performance in recent races.

August 21st, 2009 South Africa rallies behind runner in gender stormJOHANNESBURG — South Africans planned to rally in support of track champion Caster Semenya — celebrating her win in the 800 meters at the world championship, and denouncing questions about whether she should be allowed to compete as a woman as racist and sexist. The International Amateur Athletic Federation has initiated gender tests on Semenya expected to take weeks to complete.

August 20th, 2009 SAfrican runner's relatives dismiss gender uproarFAIRLIE, South Africa — In the poor, rural village where South African runner Caster Semenya grew up, relatives on Thursday brushed off questions about her deep voice and muscular build that have prompted the world governing body for track and field to seek gender tests. "That's how God made her," said her cousin, Evelyn Sekgala, who recalls Semenya being teased about her boyish looks while growing up in Fairlie, a village at the end of a dirt road where the biggest traffic jam on Thursday was a herd of goats.

June 18th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - A research undertaken by South Africa's Medical Research Council (MRC) has exposed the country's widespread culture of sexual violence. The study has revealed that one in four men in the country have admitted to rape and many have attacked more than one victim.

May 13th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - The Davis Cup draw of India against South Africa in the tennis tournament has recalled memories of a controversial final in 1974 between the two countries which South Africa won by default. India refused to play against South Africa because of the country's firm resolve to continue the protest it had launched against apartheid in 1947 at the United Nations.

March 25th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Health Minister Barbara Hogan called on the South African government to apologise for refusing the Dalai Lama a visa to attend a peace conference, local news reported. 'Just the very fact that this government has refused entry to the Dalai Lama is an example of a government that is dismissive of human rights,' SAPA news agency quoted Hogan as saying.