Semenya ‘to be cleared to race against women’

Caster Semenya, the 19-year-old South African runner who found herself at the centre of a gender test row last year, is expected to be cleared to race against women after an 11-month exile from competitive athletics.

Reports suggest the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and South African sports authorities are poised to give Semenya the green light to race again. This would mean she could compete at the World Junior Championships in Canada, which begin on July 19.

But whether Semenya can repeat her last sensational victory - when she won the 800 metres at the World Championships in Berlin last August with a record-breaking time of 1min 55.45 seconds - remains to be seen. The teenager's coach, Michael Seme, has admitted that she has not been training at full capacity due to the uncertainty over her future. It is also understood Semenya has been undergoing medical treatment for an inter-sex condition.

The IAAF's decision to let Semenya run is yet to be formally announced. Last month however she released a statement expressing her delight after South African sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile called a press conference to announce she had been cleared to run. It was subsequently cancelled after the IAAF insisted its decision was not finalised.

In a statement released before the news conference was called off at the 11th hour, Semenya said: "I am overjoyed at the fact that the medical teams have come to the right conclusion. I look forward to competing over the course of the coming athletics season." ·