A solution in the gender case of South African runner Caster Semenya will be reached by the end of June, IAAF president Lamine Diack said on Friday.
The 19-year-old Semenya has not run competitively since winning the women’s 800m title at world championships last year in Berlin.
She underwent sex tests to determine whether she is eligible to compete as a woman. “We are on the way to finding a solution not later than the end of June,” Diack said ahead of the season’s first Diamond League meet.
“This girl is in a difficult situation and it’s difficult for everyone.”
The International Association of Athletics Federations has repeatedly said it will not make any public comment on Semenya until the medical process is complete, and Semenya has agreed to wait for the resu-lts of her gender test to be released before competing.
Semenya, however, has said she plans to return to competition on June 24 at a meet in Zaragoza, Spain, though that remains unlikely unless her medical tests are finished.
In April, shortly after she was prevented from taking part in a meet in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Semenya insisted she would fight to compete but acknowledged her long-term plans in the sport remained in doubt. — AP