Australia would welcome Semenya back to track

Australia would welcome controversial South African athlete Caster Semenya back to the track, a top ranking Athletics Australia official said yesterday.

Semenya was given the green light to compete at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October after a positive ruling from athletics governing body IAAF on Tuesday.

Semenya won the 800m at the World Championships in Berlin last year but questions were raised over her gender due to her masculine appearance and vastly improved times. The IAAF ordered gender verification tests to be carried out and the association has given Semenya approval to race again, although the medical details of her case will remain secret.

Athletics Australia high performance manager Eric Hollingsworth said Semenya would be an overwhelming favourite for the 800m gold medal in New Delhi.

"She's absolutely allowed to compete, she's a woman, let her get on with it," Hollingsworth said, adding that Semenya had been unfairly persecuted.

"That's basically because people don't understand the process and the medical scenarios around it. When people have ignorance, they behave poorly," he said.

"As long as the stress of all of this hasn't affected her, she would still be the cast-iron favourite."

No Australian women are likely to make the Commonwealth Games team for the 800m event.