World 800m champion South African Caster Semenya recently dubbed the debate which erupted concerning her gender “a joke” during an interview with a South African magazine.

Ms Semenya told the magazine she saw it as a joke and didn’t let the events upset her. The young woman also said that God had made her the way she is and she accepts herself.

Semenya is featured on the cover of the latest edition of the magazine, but the masculine looks of the runner’s appearance in stilettos and skinny jeans could only revive the national gender debate.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said shortly before her victory at last month’s World Athletics Championships in Berlin that the 18-year-old woman would have to undergo a series of tests designed for verifying her gender.

During the interview, Semenya said she didn’t want to discuss the test nor is she thinking about them, she claimed.

Semenya claims that during the Berlin games, her parents had expressed concerns over rumours.

The young athlete told the magazine that she wished she had a further chance to change out of her track gear, but the photo session fuelled the debate regarding gender roles.

Colleen Lowe Morna, a spokeswoman with the advocacy group Gender Links said in an interview iwhtThe Times newspaper how amazing it was that in order to accept her, we have to turn her into our stereotypical image of what a woman should be.

Morna added that we must let Caster be Caster.