Leonard Chuene, the president of Athletics South Africa, today confirmed that world 800m champion Caster Semenya was subjected to gender tests before her victory in Berlin, and admitted lying about the tests in order to protect her privacy.
Accepting that his original denials of such tests ever taking place in South Africa were an "error of judgment", Chuene claimed he had never meant to mislead or deceive the public.
"I can no longer stand before you and say that I am not aware of gender tests conducted on Caster Semenya," Chuene told a press conference. "I felt that at the time I was acting in the best interests of Caster Semenya as a person. I believed at the time my consistent denials would help protect her.
"I was not going to stop her talent because of rumours," he added. "On what basis should I have withdrawn her? My only crime committed was to take a decision that she must run, and she won. Tell me someone who has not lied to protect a child."
Chuene went on to accuse the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) of violating Semenya's rights and her privacy. "At no stage did [the] IAAF come to us procedurally in the manner that they must come to us, and say ... we will need you to withdraw the child because of that. "The IAAF publicly revealed her name. The IAAF betrayed her. The IAAF has a lot to answer for."