SOUTH AFRICAN ATHLETE FRUSTRATED BY THE WAY TESTS WERE CARRIED OUT..

The South African athlete at the centre of a gender row was reportedly subjected to humiliating tests even before the controversy erupted at the world championships.

South Africa's Caster Semenya celebrates winning the women's 800m final at the World Athletics Championships

Semenya celebrates winning the 800 metres final
Caster Semenya's feet were apparently in stirrups as photographs were taken of her private parts that left her "bitterly upset".

The incident is believed to have happened during her country's athletics trials on August 7, and she thought she was going to hospital for drug tests.

Wilfred Daniels, the former head coach of Athletics South Africa (ASA), was quoted as saying: "The tests took almost two hours.

"Semenya became frustrated and even angry over the humiliating nature of the tests."

She called and sent text messages to friends from the Pretoria hospital to tell them about her ordeal, the newspaper Beeld said.

Caster Semenya on her return to Johannesburg airport

Athlete returns to South Africa

The governing body of world athletics, the IAAF, ordered separate gender tests on Semenya after she convincingly won the women's 800 metres final at the world championships on August 19.

The results are not yet known but the IAAF declined to confirm last week's report in Australia's Daily Telegraph that the 18-year-old had both male and female sexual characteristics.

Some South Africans have accused the organisation of racism for ordering the tests.

They claimed her broad shoulders and imposing musculature were common in women's athletics.

Daniels resigned last month over how the Semenya case was handled by ASA.

Retired US track and field star Carl Lewis blamed ASA officials for Semenya's predicament, saying they had failed to protect her and to deal with the issue properly.

The athletics legend said: "To put it out in front of the world like that, I am very disappointed in them because I feel that it is unfair to her.

"Now, for the rest of her life she'll be marked as 'the one'."