GENDER ROW ATHLETE 'HAS MALE HORMONE'.

Byline: ANDREW GREGORY

GENDER row athlete Caster Semenya had three times the normal female level of testosterone in her body, reports claimed yesterday.

Tests carried out before the start of the World Athletics Championships proved the 800m gold medallist had very high levels of the male hormone, according to sources close to the investigation.

It is believed this information led to the IAAF's decision to ask the South African athletics body to carry out a detailed "gender verification" test on the athlete.

Semenya returns home to South Africa today and the country's parliament is preparing to file a complaint with the United Nations Commissioner of Human Rights over the athlete's treatment.

It said the gender verification tests are a "gross and severe undermining of rights and privacy". Medical tests on the athlete, pictured left, are said to be ongoing, with results not expected for several weeks.

IAAF president Lamine Diack said he regretted the public row over the athlete and admitted the affair could have been treated more sensitively.

He said: "It should not even have become an issue if the confidentiality had been respected."