LONDON — Caster Semenya's lawyers say the South African runner was tricked into speaking to a reporter for The Guardian for an article that was published Saturday in the British newspaper.

Dewey & LeBoeuf managing partner Greg Nott says in a statement that anything in the article "which are alleged to have been obtained from or attributed to our client have been so obtained under false pretenses and in a wrongful and unlawful manner."

The Guardian rejected the claim, saying the reporter had been invited to speak to Semenya by her coach.

The 18-year-old Semenya won the 800-meter world championship title in August. She made worldwide headlines when the International Association of Athletics Federations said it had ordered gender tests on the runner.