Caster dismisses hormone storm as 'nonsense'

LONDON - South African Caster Semenya, dogged by a gender controversy since shooting to fame in 2009, has played down efforts by athletics' global governing body to change rules on naturally occurring testosterone in female athletes.

Semenya is back in the spotlight following a study funded by the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency that showed female athletes with naturally high levels of testosterone enjoy a competitive advantage of up to 4.5 percent over their rivals.

The 26-year-old South African, who is the double defending Olympic 800m champion and also a two-time world gold medalist over the distance, was one of a number of women taking medication to lower her testosterone level until 2015 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended an IAAF rule that enforced a limit on naturally occurring levels.