The family of South African runner Caster Semenya who won the 800-meter race on the world championships Wednesday and is under a gender controversy, denied Semenya is a man.

Semenya's father Jacob and paternal grandmother Maputhi Sekgala said they known she is a woman because both raised them.

What can I do when they call her a man, when she's really not a man? It is God who made her look that way, Maputi Sekgala, the 18-year old paternal grandmother told the South African newspaper The Times.

Her father also spoke in her defense.

She is my little girl... I raised her and I have never doubted her gender. She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times, Semenya's father told the Sowetan newspaper.

Semenya was undergoing a test to verify her gender, the Associated Press reported. The medal ceremony is scheduled for later Thursday.

Watch below the 800m Womens Final:

Germany South Africa