Semenya to receive gold medal from 2011 world championships
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Olympic 800 metres champion Caster Semenya will be officially awarded her gold medal from the 2011 world athletics championships at this year’s edition in Doha, but will not be there to receive it.
Semenya was elevated to the gold medal position two years ago when Russian athlete Mariya Savinova, who sped past her on the final straight, was later disqualified for doping violations.
The South African athlete had hoped to defend her 2017 world championship title in Doha starting on Sept. 27, but was forced to withdraw with no verdict yet delivered in her appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal against testosterone regulations imposed on her.
Semenya is appealing the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) ruling that supported regulations introduced by the sport’s governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
These say that XY chromosome athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) can race in distances from 400m to a mile only if they take medication to reach a reduced testosterone level.
Semenya has refused to be bound by these restrictions, placing a cloud over her future in athletics.
Athletics South Africa (ASA) confirmed yesterday that Semenya would not be in Doha to receive the medal personally during an IAAF ceremony, but that a representative would collect it on her behalf.
Sunette Viljoen, who has been elevated from bronze to silver in the javelin from the 2011 championships will take part in the ceremony. Russian athlete Mariya Abakumova, the original gold medallist, was also later disqualified for doping violations.
“Congratulations to our athletes for their achievements and for being honoured as clean athletes,” ASA president Aleck Skhosana said in a media statement.
“We are happy that the IAAF now offers a chance to the rightful winners a podium celebration in front of a capacity stadium which the cheats denied them at the original competition.”
ASA say they will conduct a formal hand-over to Semenya at a later date.
Semenya now has two Olympic, three world championship and one Commonwealth Games gold medal in the 800m. (Reuters) - Four-times Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters plans to come out of retirement after a sevenyear hiatus, returning to the WTA Tour in 2020, the 36-year-old Belgian said yesterday.
The decision marks Clijsters’ second return to the sport after first retiring in 2007.
“I don’t really feel like I want to prove something,” Clijsters said on the WTA Insider Podcast. “I think for me it’s the challenge.
“The love for the sport is obviously still there. But the question is, am I capable of bringing it to a level where I would like it to be before I play at a high level of one of the best women’s sports in the world.
“I want to challenge myself and I want to be strong again. This is my marathon.”
Two years after winning her first major at the 2005 U.S. Open, an injury-plagued Clijsters decided to quit the game at the age of 23 to start a family, returning two years later to claim her second U.S. Open as an unranked player in only her third tournament back.
Clijsters defended her title at Flushing Meadows the following year and then won the Australia Open in 2011 en route to topping the world rankings for the first time since 2006.
With 41 titles to her name, Clijsters hung up her racket after the 2012 U.S. Open and later worked as a tennis commentator.
Clijsters said she has been considering a return to the tour for the past two years.
“I feel like I’ve had more energy these last six months or so than I’ve had in the last two years because I’m taking care of myself better,” Clijsters added.
“Even if I don’t make it, this whole process has been so worth it for me to get back into a good routine.”