I don't find it so hard to believe that she wasn't able to do things like dress up or put on makeup before now. In other countries, sports programs can be run very differently. Just last week, a story was published about a Chinese table tennis champion finally being allowed to date at the age of 25. And South Africa is definitely known for its runners, so I could see her having a lot of societal pressure to train, go to school, and do nothing else.

Also, she may or may not actually be intersexed - IAAF has not officially released the results of her testing yet.