PRETORIA , South Africa ( CNN ) -- The president of Athletics South Africa has admitted that he lied about gender tests on runner Caster Semenya before her gold-medal win at the World Athletics Championships last month . Caster Semenya celebrates her gold at the world championships in Berlin . The national sports body has always denied that it agreed to the tests before the race in Berlin , Germany -- an event that kicked off international controversy over the 18-year-old Semenya 's gender . But after South Africa 's Mail & Guardian newspaper printed e-mails on Friday showing that ASA President Leonard Chuene was aware of the tests , he held a news conference to apologize . `` I now realize that it was an error of judgment and I would like to apologize unconditionally , '' Chuene said on Saturday , according to South Africa 's SAPA news agency . After receiving the results of the tests , the South Africa team doctor requested the 18-year-old Semenya be withdrawn from the 800-meter race she ended up winning , Chuene said . But Chuene said he refused to do it because the sport 's international governing body did not request withdrawal . He also said withdrawing Semenya might have looked bad . `` If we did not let her run , we would be confirming that she is not normal , '' Chuene told the news conference in the capital , Pretoria . The e-mails printed by the Mail & Guardian are an exchange between team doctor Harold Adams and ASA General Manager Molatelo Malehopo , with Chuene copied in . `` After thinking about the current confidential matter I would suggest that we make the following decisions , '' Adams wrote on August 5 , more than a week before the Berlin race . `` 1 . We get a ( gynecological ) opinion and take it to Berlin . 2 . We do nothing and I will handle these issues if they come up in Berlin . Please think and get back to me ASAP . '' An e-mail response from Malehopo to Adams , sent the same day , says : `` I will suggest that you go ahead with the necessary tests that the IAAF might need . '' The controversy over Semenya erupted after she crushed her rivals in the 800 meters and secured victory in one minute , 55.45 seconds -- the best women 's time in the world this year . Semenya 's masculine build and dominant performance fueled existing questions about her gender , and the International Association of Athletics Federations -- which oversees the sport worldwide -- ordered tests on her . Reports in two newspapers last week said the results of the tests showed Semenya has both male and female characteristics . The IAAF declined to confirm those reports and said a decision in the case would come in late November . The IAAF said it sought tests on Semenya 's gender before the Berlin championships because questions had been raised after her winning performance at the African junior championships in July . South Africans have rallied behind Semenya , angrily dismissing reports about her gender . Semenya 's relatives and the South Africa team manager have maintained she is female . This week , South Africa 's minister for women , children and people with disabilities wrote to the United Nations to complain that Semenya had not been treated in line with international protocols on gender and quality . Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya sent a letter to the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women , urging it to investigate , SAPA reported . `` The questioning of her gender is based on a stereotypic view of the physical features and abilities attributable to women , '' she wrote in the letter , according to SAPA . `` Such stereotypes demonstrate the extent of patriarchy within the world 's sporting community . '' The process of gender verification has undergone big changes since it was first introduced for international competition in the 1960s , the IAAF said . The first mechanism involved `` rather crude and perhaps humiliating physical examinations , '' which soon gave way to mouth swabs to collect chromosomes . There were too many uncertainties with mouth swabs , so the IAAF abandoned them in 1991 and the International Olympic Committee discontinued them in 2000 . A proper test has yet to be found , the IAAF said , and the current tests are considered a good interim solution .
President of Athletics South Africa admits that he lied about gender tests . National sports body had denied it agreed to tests on runner before Berlin race . Leonard Chuene apologizes in aftermath of controversy over Caster Semenya . E-mails reveal that team doctor had advised not allowing her to compete .