Olympic governing body suspends SA chief

South Africa’s Olympic governing body has suspended Athletics South Africa’s president, Leonard Chuene who lied about his role in Caster Semenya’s gender tests.



The 18-year-old Semenya was embroiled in controversy after her 800-metre victory at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.



Following her victory the International Association of Athletics Federations said it had ordered gender tests.



Chuene admitted in September that he lied about whether Semenya had been gender tested before Berlin.



Despite calls for his resignation, Chuene received a vote of confidence from Athletics South Africa board.



Athletics South Africa board and its members have also been suspended pending a disciplinary investigation into the matter.



Semenya burst on to the world stage when she ran one minute, 56.72 seconds for the 800 metres in July, smashing her previous personal best by more than seven seconds.



She also broke Zola Budd’s long-standing South African 800-metre record before arriving in Berlin as the newly crowned African junior champion.