For track stars, winning a gold medal means you've reached the pinnacle of your profession. But for South African sprinter Caster Semenya, it's been awfully lonely at the top. At the World Championships in Berlin in August, Semenya blazed past the field to capture the 800-m title in a lightning-quick 1:55.45, trouncing her closest competitor by more than two seconds. But instead of cementing the 18-year-old's status as track's newest star, Semenya's sprint drew attention mainly to her muscled, masculine physique and touched off a heated controversy over whether she was running in the right race. "These kind of people should not run with us," said Italy's Elisa Cusma. "For me, she is not a woman. She is a man." The International Association of Athletics Federations admitted that Semenya had been forced to submit to gender testing the day of the race, though it declined to confirm reports in an Australian paper that the sprinter has both male and female genitalia. The organization has yet to determine whether Semenya will be permitted to keep her medal or continue racing as a woman, though South Africa's Sports Ministry declared on Nov. 19 that the young star would not be forced to relinquish her prize.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists