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London - South African runner Caster Semenya says she doesn't care what anyone says about her "as long as I am back on the track", this after she has been at the centre of a gender-test dispute.
The 800-meter world champion told BBC television she needed to stay positive, and also questioned why people believe she is taking hormone treatments.
Semenya was a relative unknown when she won the 800 title at the 2009 worlds in Berlin. Before the final, news broke that the then-18-year-old runner was ordered to under gender tests.
Although the test results have not been released, Semenya was cleared to run last year by the IAAF, and has been competing since.
"You need to think about positive things, about the future. So that's how I'm living," Semenya told the BBC in South Africa in an interview being broadcast on Tuesday night. "You don't have to think about the things that happen in the past. They will destroy you."
Although Australian media reported that her tests indicated that Semenya has both male and female sex organs, the IAAF has refused to confirm or deny that.
Since then, rumors have abounded that Semenya was cleared to compete after taking hormone treatments.
"Treatment? Why should I have treatment?" Semenya said. "What is the reality of this situation?"
Semenya, who has been out with a back injury for months, said she doesn't worry about what others are saying about her.
"I don't care what anyone says as long as I am back on the track," she said. "It's easy when I'm on the track. I'm not here to talk, I'm here to run. That's how I do my thing. I don't care who says what."
She added: "I didn't see it as a big deal, I know people talk, but I don't care. I'm not ashamed of being myself. ... I know who I am. There's only one person who can judge me. There's only God."
