The governing body for world athletics has denied reports it wants Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya to be classed as a male athlete.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was forced to respond after British newspaper The Times reported lawyers would argue Semenya is a "biological male" because she has high testosterone levels.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is due to hear the landmark challenge brought by South African athlete Semenya against the IAAF's proposal to restrict testosterone levels in female athletes next week.
"The IAAF is not classifying any DSD (Differences of Sexual Development) athlete as male," the organisation's statement said.
"To the contrary, we accept their legal sex without question, and permit them to compete in the female category."
But the IAAF went on to affirm its commitment to lowering testosterone levels and said it wished to "preserve fair competition" in women's athletics.
"However if a DSD athlete has testes and male levels of testosterone, they get the same increases in bone and muscle size and strength and increases in haemoglobin that a male gets when they go through puberty, which is what gives men such a performance advantage over women.
"Therefore, to preserve fair competition in the female category, it is necessary to require DSD athletes to reduce their testosterone down to female levels before they compete at international level."
The IAAF planned to bring in new rules last November to ensure female athletes kept testosterone levels below a certain limit for at least six months before competing.
The new limits would apply to female track athletes involved in middle distance events ranging from 400m to a mile, but the organisation decided to delay the changes until March 26 when Semenya's case has been heard.
If she loses Semenya would be at risk of missing the World Championships which start in Doha in late September.
The Olympic champion at 800m at London 2012 and Rio 2016 was previously asked to undertake gender testing but any results were not made public.
In response to reports on her upcoming CAS hearing Semenya's lawyers released a statement saying she is "unquestionably a woman".
"She is a heroine and inspiration to many around the world. She looks forward to responding to the IAAF at the upcoming CAS hearing," the statement read.
"Women with differences in sexual development have genetic variations that are no different than other genetic variations that are celebrated in sport.
"She asks that she be respected and treated as any other athlete; her genetic gift should be celebrated, not discriminated against.
"Ms. Semenya is fighting for her right to run without being required to undergo unnecessary medical intervention.
"She is fighting to run free."