Johannesburg - The mayor of 800m gold medallist Caster Semenya's home town was among the first at OR Tambo International Airport to welcome her and the rest of her team home on Tuesday.

"We are so excited, we are among the people who nurtured her," said Mamamako Mabaso, mayor of Aganang municipality in Limpopo.

Semenya and her male counterpart in the 800m, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, cracked gold and long jumper Khotso Mokoena the silver at the International Amateur Athletics Federation's World Championships in Berlin.

In spite of the controversy over Semenya's gender, Mabaso said excitement in her home village of Masehlona, outside Polokwane, had been at such a fever pitch that the town arranged for a tent to be pitched near her parent's house to accommodate the flood of visitors.

Mabaso said Semenya's parents, Dorcus and Jacob, stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport and would be on hand to greet the 18-year-old after her mixture of victory and controversy.

Also at the airport were residents of Limpopo's Moletji Village, where Semenya grew up. Semenya's neighbour Pauline Mokwatedi lashed out at the media for making claims the athlete was not a woman.

"It's shocking for people to say she's a boy. How can a girl that we raised grow up to be a man?" she asked.

Mokwatedi, 63, was among about 60 residents who had made their way to the airport to support their fellow villager.

Also present were 12 members of the Bela-Bela ANC Women's League who said they were disappointed at the negative media reports about Semenya.

"They [the media and the International Association of Athletics Federations] have disrespected her. So we are here to encourage her to keep on doing the best that she can in the sporting field."

Four members of the Naughty Boys Football Club left their home town of Seshego at midnight to be at the airport to greet her.

Thomas Madimba said: "She has done us proud," adding that they considered her a good defender from the days when she played football in her village.

With a large South African flag draped around his shoulders, Mthuthuzeli Mabaso, from Katlehong, said he left home at 04:30 to be at the airport.

"I am proudly South African, I am proud of what they [the athletes] did to represent us."

The team was expected to arrive shortly before 09:00 and the gathering crowd would be held at bay by a large group of policemen already patrolling the airport.