Award, no award, Caster’s champion

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and, while the negative comments and publicity surrounding her might not endanger her life, Caster Semenya must still feel hurt. Yet, she just seems to shrug it off and gets stronger in her determination to succeed.

This week, 27-year-old Semenya had another nasty reality to deal with that, despite her stellar achievements on the athletics track this year, she was omitted from the list of five finalists for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Female World Athlete of the Year award.

This season, which commentators have described as “near flawless” for her, Semenya picked up seven medals at the Commonwealth Games, the African Championships, and the IAAF Continental Cup. She then was unbeaten in the 800m for the third year in a row, successfully defending her crown in that event in the IAAF’s Diamond League series and topped the world rankings for both the 800m and the 1 000m races.

That should have been more than enough to get her on the achievement shortlist. She was among the IAAF’s 10 nominees named last month‚ with a ballot deciding the five finalists. A public vote counted 25%‚ the IAAF council 50% and “the IAAF family” 25%. That last bit explains everything. The IAAF mandarins have made it clear that they are against her because she is “different” and supposedly has some “unfair advantage”. Earlier this year, the IAAF tried to introduce regulations for athletes with hyperandrogenism that would require Semenya to take medication to lower naturally occurring higher levels of testosterone. She has challenged the IAAF in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Semenya is what she is. To force her to take drugs to “reduce” her performance is the IAAF playing God. And to deny her the glory she deserves is inhuman.