The unpalatable but unavoidable fact is that while the other two medallists, Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba (1:56.49) and Kenya’s Margaret Wambui (1:56.89), have been identified as hyperandrogenic, both have not been subjected to the kinds of innuendo which Semenya has experienced.
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South Africa’s Caster Semenya smiles after winning the gold medal in the women’s 800-meter final during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016.
“You just need to lead by example”, she added.
Semenya has faced continued questions over her eligibility to race since her impressive 2009 World Championship win as an 18-year-old, with concerns raised that she should not be able to run as a woman.
Hours before Saturday’s final, International International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe indicated that the world body would seek to revisit regulations regarding testosterone levels.
“I was coming down the home straight, we were not far away and you can see how close it is”.
She was still good enough to take silver behind Savinova in London however.
Then‚ SA had 10 medals with three gold‚ four silver and three bronze‚ and a Semenya victory would mean Team SA in Rio has the same total‚ but with two gold‚ six silver and two bronze.
Sure enough sports is for fun, sports is to unite as well.
Her win stands as a victory for all those who have ever been told that they should be ashamed or change who they are.
Semenya’s performance drew praise from Paula Radcliffe.
Many South Africans see in the ogling of Semenya’s physique, the same dehumanizing treatment that was afforded Baartman, and perhaps even more sinister, an assertion of white and male supremacy. The results claimed she had hyperandrogenism, meaning higher levels in testosterone, and one leaked report suggested she had no womb or ovaries but internal testes instead because of a very rare chromosomal abnormality. She said it was about running a race and winning a gold medal, and not about the debate over testosterone and the IAAF’s desire to regulate it in some women.
Caster Semenya leaves the airport with her partner Violet Raseboya. They have mostly learned to keep their thoughts to themselves about whether their sport needs rules to somehow dial back the competitive advantage they perceive women like Semenya to have. Many people said it was discriminatory for athletics organizations to try to penalize Ms. Semenya for a natural condition.
But under a legal challenge, the IAAF was forced to drop the testosterone-limiting rules past year.
“Excuse me, my friend”, she said.
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Sharp had hoped to be challenging for a medal but was happy with her performances, especially after failing to make the final at the World Championships a year ago.
