In the record books South Africa's Caster Semenya will go down as the woman who was crowned queen of the 800 metres at the 2009 world athletics championships.
In the record books South Africa's Caster Semenya will go down as the woman who was crowned queen of the 800 metres at the 2009 world athletics championships.
But in the coming weeks she faces an arguably tougher challenge as the world awaits the results of tests ordered to prove, or disprove, doubts expressed by athletics' world ruling body the IAAF over her gender.
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Semenya, a tall, broad-shouldered 18-year-old with boyish looks, showed as much strength of character as leg power last week in Berlin when she powered to gold in the two-lap event.
Only hours previously, the governing body of the IAAF ordered the teenager to undergo a gender verification test.
The test will aim to determine whether Semenya has two X (XX) chromosomes or possesses some kind of variant that would signify she has a rare genetic condition - which is nonetheless the case of millions worldwide.
But while it is deemed right, in the fairness of sport, to test all suspicious athletes the IAAF itself is now under scrutiny for its hasty treatment of a competitors whose stunning performance should have provided one of the stories of the championships.
Her supporters in South Africa have claimed that while she may have always looked boyish Semenya has nothing to answer for. And while tests will soon decide whether the IAAF decision was correct, her plight has gone global.
Among the loudest protesters have been the Intersex community, which speaks in support of those born without the 'normal' XX and XY chromosomes owned, respectively, by the female and male majority.
To be classed as 'intersex', according to the International Organisation of Intersexes (OII), "is not as rare as often believed and many people are intersexed, although it may not be visible at birth".
A petition has also been launched by the San Francisco-based National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC), demanding the IAAF "stay out of Caster Semenya's pants".
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"Your efforts to make champion Caster Semenya 'prove' she is a woman are shameful and unnecessary, and undermine the integrity and dignity of women athletes," said the NSRC.
"Requiring select athletes - based purely on looks - to undergo 'scientific' testing that others do not is unfair and humiliating."
Perhaps the most notorious gender case in sport is that of Stalislawa Walasiewicz, a female Polish sprinter who won 100m gold at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles as Stella Walsh.
It was only after she was shot dead in 1980 that an autopsy revealed Walsh as possessing male genitalia.
However, while those revelations finally ended years of suspicion surrounding Walsh, there is a genetic 'grey area' which appears to lend itself to open discrimination.
Three years ago India's Santhi Soundarajan found herself in a similar position as Semenya.
She was stripped of the silver medal she won in the women's 800m at the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar after she 'failed' a sex test ordered by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Sent home from the Games, Soundarajan was left humiliated, and attempted suicide.
Semenya appears to have the backing of friends, family and even the South African government, which plans a hero's welcome on Tuesday.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party even criticised the "motives of those who have made it their business to question her gender due to her physique and running style.
It added: "Caster is not the only woman athlete with a masculine build and the International Association of Athletics Federation should know better."
The IAAF has since said Semenya could keep her medal even if she is scientifically shown not to be all-woman.
But that appears too little, too late.
And the NSRC has called on world sport's chiefs to go further and help promote better understanding of complex gender issues by officially recognising athletes who may differ slightly from the majority.
"Gender is not a science, and biology does not make - or unmake - a woman," added the statement.
"Oppression based on looks, however, is real, and forces women athletes to adhere to a sexist standard that does not foster true competition or personal excellence.
"We applaud Caster Semenya's skill as an athlete, and the way she creates more space for women - of all shapes, sizes and looks - to succeed.
"We demand that you stop selective gender testing now, and put in place new policies that support all athletes, regardless of gender expression or identity."
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