July 2008 2:11.98 at the 800 meters distance.
October. 2:04.23
March 2009 2:00.58
July 2009 1:56.72
August 2009 1:55.45.
What little I know about performance enhancing drugs, is that one of the natural elements within the body is testosterone. I understand this athlete did show a high level of this. Yes, 800 meters is too short a race to usually see a marked level of improvement.
At a guess, I would venture the athelete is not complicite in anything herself- though I don't know that. The urge to see international triumph has seen both China and East Germany do some very questionable things.
We shall see.
The Australian press reports indicated that while Semenya has female external genitalia, Semenya has no ovaries or uterus and has a set of testes enbedded in Semenya’s abdomen, which are producing masculinizing levels of testosterone three times higher than those found in an average female. (And while any number of circumstances (a birth defect, ovarian disease, a hormone-producing tumor) could cause a woman to have unusually high testosterone, there has been no proof that this is the case with Semenya.)
Contrary to Zoe Brain’s assertion, there has also been no proof so far that Semenya has either partial or complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. In fact, most athletes with CAIS, such as María José Martínez-Patiño, the 1986 Spanish national champion in the 60-meter hurdles, who was genetically male, have totally unambiguous external female characteristics and could not in any way be mistaken for a male — unlike Semenya, who has virtually no such characteristics except for a vagina.
I think what you’re probably seeing with Semenya’s dramatic reduction in times in just over 13 months is the influence of the extra testosterone, which is being metabolized and has resulted in a deep voice, clearly masculine musculature, and other masculine external physical features. If this turns out to be true, there’s no way Semenya should be allowed to continue to compete as a woman.