Caster’s gender riles her rivals
‘Criticism will not stop SA athlete from going for gold and reaching her dream’
CASTER Semenya’s Olympic rivals – threatened by the potential gold-medal winner – are starting to fan the flames of controversy over the South African athlete’s gender make-up.
But Semenya is not fussed. Her attitude is simply: “Let’s take this outside to the track.”
In an interview with BBC Radio yesterday, Paula Radcliffe, the marathon world-record holder, questioned Semenya’s expected dominance in the 800m at next month’s Rio de Janeiro Games.
Semenya is the overwhelming favourite to pick up gold, but Radcliffe believes the 25-year-old’s genetic make-up will cast a shadow over her victory.
Radcliffe said the expectation was that there would be no other result than a Semenya victory, but then added: “Then it’s no longer sport, and it’s no longer an open race.
“Obviously there is an issue, and there is an issue that needs to be understood a lot better. What concerns me… (is) we’ve seen the lengths countries like Russia will go to (in order) to have major success on the world stage and on the Olympic stage.”
In 2009, after Semenya’s victory at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships, she underwent a gender test.
The results of the test were never made public, but in 2010 the US 1 500m record-holder Shannon Rowbury also criticised Semenya, saying her go-ahead to race in Rio had challenged and threatened the integrity of women’s sport, because it meant “intersex” athletes competing against genetic women.
Semenya’s coach, Jean Verster, said yesterday that Semenya was firmly focused on the Rio Games, and that no amount of criticism would derail her ambitions of winning gold in Brazil.
“We aren’t interested in what other people have to say. Caster has been cleared to run, and that’s all that matters,” he said.
“People always look for some sort of sensation, because they are probably not so much on the radar as they used to be.
“They are trying to boost their own names and blow their own horns.
“She has never been bothered by criticism, and she never will be. She’s worked very hard for two years to get where she is today.”
Mentally, Semenya was also in a good frame of mind, said Verster.
“Caster has worked so hard this year and last year… It’s been a long and hard journey, with many sacrifices for her.”
Verster added that, just like every other athlete competing at the Rio Games, Caster too would be aiming for gold.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Caster first has to get through the first round, then make the semi-finals. And if she’s in the final, then we definitely will be aiming for gold.
“Anything can happen. She wants to try and win a medal, as do many other athletes, and she’s hopeful and confident she will give her best shot, and hopefully it will come through.”
The Department of Sport and Recreation has also given its full backing to Semenya.
Esethu Hasane, spokesman for the department, said: “We are not really concerned with these kinds of comments made by individual athletes. They are bringing up something in the past that has been dealt with already
“Caster has been given the go-ahead to run, and there’s nothing really else to say. We continue to support her, and she has our full backing going in to the Rio Games.”