And the really good news is that the new Olympic champion is keen on making the 400m a part of her schedule. The South African runner was subjected to humiliating gender tests back in 2009 after media controversy over her “abnormally” high testosterone level for a female athlete.
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She has come under global scrutiny and criticism for benefiting from a 2015 Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling, which allowed athletes with hyperandrogenism to compete without taking hormones to suppress their natural production of testosterone.
“Every athlete’s dream is to win a medal, especially in the Olympics”, said Semenya, whose winning time was two seconds adrift of the world record of 1:53:28, set by Jarmila Kratochvilova, running for Czechoslovakia, in July 1983.
The IAAF is set to challenge the CAS decision, meaning the issue is unlikely to go away any time soon.
Semenya has been a controversial figure in athletics because of her physical appearance.
“I don’t think it detracts”, she said about the focus on her identity and personal life, according to a report by the Independent.
“I think I make a difference. I was doing it for my people, the people who support me”, Semenya is quoted as saying. It’s not about looking at people for how they look, how the speak, how they run. It’s not about being more muscular. I think about performing. It’s about sport. When you leave your apartment, you don’t want to look at what you look like. “The advice would be for everybody to go out and have fun”.
Shabangu said government was proud of all South African athletes for giving their best. “Obviously we know we’re quicker the last 200”.
“It was fantastic to run with great athletes like this”.
Ms. Semenya’s victory was part of a historically strong performance by South African athletes at the Olympics. “This is all about the 800m we ran today”.
Perhaps the best bit about her Olympic gold was how it seemed, nearly immediately, to bring her out of her shell.
However some records prove that the competition has not been very unfair.
At the close of Olympic track and field, the 800 meter and 4×400 meter relay finals sped around the roundabout while the high jump took the field with tense, nail-biting drama. “I’ve competed against Caster since 2008 so it’s nothing new for me”. I would have been disappointed with anything other than a medal last night, something which is always going to be hard in such a strong field.
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Sharp told the BBC after the race: “I have tried to avoid the issue all year”.
