Coach of South African runner Semenya resigns, says sex confirmation tests not explained

Coach: Sex tests not explained to SAfrican runner

JOHANNESBURG — The remorseful coach of the runner being tested to confirm her gender has resigned over the way her case was handled, saying she was not told what was being done when she was given tests in South Africa.

Wilfred Daniels’ comments in South African media Monday contradicted statements from Athletics South Africa officials. They have accused the IAAF, track and field’s international governing body, of publicly humiliating Caster Semenya while denying any responsibility on their part.

The South African officials have said tests were done only abroad, not in South Africa.

But The Star, a Johannesburg daily, quoted Daniels on Monday as saying tests were done in South Africa in July, before Semenya won the 800-meter race at the world track championships in Berlin last month. Daniels said Semenya believed she was undergoing a doping test, according to The Star.

Daniels told South Africa’s Talk Radio 702 “the tests were not properly explained to her.” He did not say if results had been determined.

“I’m so sorry for the part I played,” Daniels was quoted as saying in The Star. “Because of my negligence she went through all that.”

Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene, also speaking to Talk Radio 702, maintained again Monday that his organization had “not done anything wrong.”

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Daniels and Chuene were not immediately successful.