Semenya wants to ‘piss off’ IAAF over policy
TWO-TIME Olympic champion Caster Semenya admits she is challenging the IAAF’s contentious female eligibility policy partly to “piss off” the global athletics body.
Speaking to radio presenter Redi Tlhabi at the Discovery Leadership Summit in Sandton, Semenya said her fight was not only about her future as an athlete but for young aspiring girls who may be affected by the rules.
“To be honest, this is not about me. I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in life… I was sitting at home thinking I can’t let this thing go on; what about the next generation? It is killing them,” Semenya said.
“What about those young girls who still want to run who are in the same situation as I am? It means their dreams would be shattered.
“I just wanted to piss them off a bit. Sorry, it is just the way I am. I want to show them that what they are doing does not make sense.”
The regulations are limited to athletes who compete in events ranging from the 400m to the mile which was, coincidentally, Semenya’s best distances.
The International Association of Athletics Federations introduced the policy in April and would attempt to regulate women who naturally produce testosterone levels above five nanomoles per litre of blood.
The regulations were to have gone into effect yesterday but the IAAF had agreed to place it on ice pending the outcome of the proceedings in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The proceedings are expected to take place in February 2019 with a ruling expected to be handed down by March.
Semenya questioned the logic of the IAAF’s decision to regulate women who naturally produced high levels of testosterone.
“Once you start classifying women, it is a problem. If you want to classify those in the 400m, 800m, and 1 500m, I say okay, then I will move to sprints and see what you can do about it,” Semenya said.
“I will then confuse you again and move back to the middle distances.”
The Discovery Vitality ambassador said there was a lack of solidarity from fellow female athletes in taking a stand against the regulations.
“When it comes to situations like this, we as athletes can sometimes be scared to challenge authority because we are afraid of what we might lose,” Semenya said.
“We as women, we need to stand together. Men get a lot of things done together, but as women, we lack support. We must be more organised, to make it easier for each other. Instead of complaining about transformation, we must be transformative.”