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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's governing party wants champion runner Caster Semenya to compete as a woman regardless of any gender tests.

African National Congress party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said Monday that Semenya had been brought up as a girl and should therefore "continue to run as a woman."

Semenya won the 800 meters at the world championships in August in Berlin. Before the final, track and field's ruling body said it had ordered gender tests.

The ANC has set up a group to support Semenya and says she has been "victimized and subjected to unnecessary public scrutiny."

Former President Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is to lead the support group. She is a prominent ANC figure and lawmaker.