The following year, the IAAF introduced new testosterone regulations for women, which the Athletics Federation of India challenged on behalf of one of its athletes, Dutee Chand, in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in July last year.
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport a year ago ruled that there was no proof that extra testosterone was beneficial to intersex athletes and ruled that they need not take medication.
Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba was second in 1:56.49 while Kenya’s Margaret Wambui claimed bronze in 1:57.52.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya leads the women’s 800-meter final during athletics competitions at the Summer Olympics inside Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016. “It’s not about discriminating [against] people and looking at them in terms of how they look, how they speak and how they have run”. This win is Felix’s sixth gold in track and field.
Based on her dominance of the event this year, Semenya’s gold was perhaps the most anticipated of the Games, with her rivals unable to counteract her impressive kick over the last 200m.
Semenya has been the subject of controversy throughout her entire worldwide career, but her margin of victory in this race left nothing up for debate. I’m incredibly proud of that.
During interviews in the mixed zone earlier, Semenya had spoken about sport uniting people.
“Caster Semenya represented SA women so well”, read one tweet posted on the South Africa Broadcasting Commission’s website.”Been crying for the past 4 hours”, read another “Caster!” I think that’s what we need to keep doing. Beitia’s first Olympics was in Athens (2004), and though she’s highly decorated with European and world championship medals, she never earned an Olympic title.
But the 25-year-old Semenya, who was also the 2009 world champion, will sit out the next Diamond League athletics meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday.
Whatever public stance is taken on Semenya, it is worth acknowledging she has been forced to cope with an almighty emotional burden in the build-up to Rio and at the Games themselves.
“I was not really under pressure but obviously I had to do it for my people”.
“When you walk out of your apartment, you think about performing, you do not think about how your opponent looks”.
This means she can now run without the medication, and Britain’s Lynsey Sharp admitted yesterday that it was “difficult” to race against Semeya. We’re not here to talk about the IAAF or speculation. “So I think the advice from me to everybody is just to go out there and have fun”.
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After a brief consultation with each other, all three refused to answer.
