Controversial Semenya wins women's 800 metres

Controversial South Africa runner Caster Semenya blew away the field in the women's 800-metre final at the track and field world championships in Berlin on Wednesday.

Semenya pulled away early and cruised to the gold in a time of one minute, 55.45 seconds — more than two seconds ahead of the competition.

Semenya ,18, came under scrutiny earlier in the day when it was reported that the International Association of Athletics Federations has asked the South African athletics federation to conduct a gender verification test on Semenya amid concerns she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman.

The IAAF requested the gender test about three weeks ago after Semenya burst on the scene by improving her personal bests in the 800 and 1,500 by huge margins.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies says the "extremely complex, difficult" test has been started, but the results were not expected for several weeks.

"If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud … that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results," Davies added. "However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating."

South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane told The Associated Press "there was no cheating on our part."

"We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way," Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said. "Our conscience is clear in terms of Caster. We have no reservations at all about that."

Although medals will be awarded for the 800, the race remains under a cloud until the investigation is closed, and Semenya could be stripped of the gold depending on the test results, IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss said.

Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei (1:57.90) and Britain's Jennifer Meadows (1:57.93) joined Semenya on the medal stand, edging out Ukraine's Yuliya Krevsun (1:58.00) in a three-way photo finish.

Strong finish propels Kamel to 1,500 gold

Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain used a powerful finishing kick to capture the men's 1,500 metres.

Saving his best for last, the long-striding Kamel emerged from the pack to overtake Ethiopia's Deresse Mekonnen over the final stretch. Kamel finished in 3:35.93, with Mekonnen right behind in 3:36.01 to take the silver.

Defending world champion Bernard Lagat of the U.S. got the bronze in 3:36.20.

Nathan Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., reached the semifinals in the event, but finished last in his heat.