The winner of the women's 800m race at the Athletics World Championships in Germany has been asked to undergo a gender test.

Caster Semenya was asked to take the test three weeks ago by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), it has emerged, although the news has only recently been confirmed.

The 18-year-old South African took the lead in her women's running wear in the final of the 800m earlier this week at the midway point of the race, finishing ahead of the field in a time of one minute 55.45 seconds.

Semenya's time eclipsed her previous world-leading time of one minute 56.72 seconds set at the African Junior Championships recently.

Speaking to the Associated Press, IAAF spokesperson Nick Davies underlined the sensitivity of the testing procedure.

He said the test was "extremely complex" and difficult and could take weeks before there is a result.

"So we're talking about reports that are very long, very time consuming," he added. ADNFCR-2569-ID-19322063-ADNFCR

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