Caster: IAAF show their hypocritical side
Perhaps even more alarming than Caster Semenya’s absence from the list of finalists is the evidence that public participation in the voting process for the annual International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Awards is nothing more than a thinly-veiled mirage.
While the global body wants fans to believe they are involved in the process of selecting the award winners, the decisions are really made almost entirely by the IAAF.
After announcing 10 nominees for the men’s and women’s IAAF Athlete of the Year accolades, the second round of the process incorporated widespread voting.
Only 25% of the vote for the finalists went to fans, however, with the other 75% decided by the IAAF council and its members.
Had the second round of the process been opened entirely to supporters of the sport, leaving the global body to decide both the first-round nominees and the final winners, Semenya would have been a deserved finalist.
The middle-distance runner received more than 13 000 public votes on social media and was ranked fourth behind versatile Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen, Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo and British speedster Dina Asher-Smith, but she was omitted from the list of five finalists.
Instead, Belgian heptathlete Nafi Thiam (ranked sixth with less than 11 000 public votes) and Kenyan steeplechaser Beatrice Chepkoech (ranked eighth with around 9 000 public votes) were both included among the finalists.
Wesley Bo on
Semenya’s long-running clash with the IAAF around gender rules essentially eliminated her from receiving the prestigious award, with the governing body unlikely to have considered giving her the trophy.
However, having a three-way voting process which gives fans no real influence seems rather pointless, and the IAAF may as well have eliminated the second round.
Long jumper Luvo Manyonga was ranked seventh based on pub- lic votes, but the top five male athletes – American sprinter Christian Coleman, Swedish pole vault prodigy Armand Duplantis, Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, French decathlete Kevin Mayer and Qatari hurdler Abderrahman Samba – were all included among the finalists for the men’s award, so it’s not as if the IAAF can’t get it right.
But opening a decision to the public, and then virtually ignoring their opinion, results in little more than an open snub.
Thiam and Chepkoech both had superb seasons, with the latter breaking the world record in her specialist event, but had the second round of voting been restricted to the public, who are key to the status and future of the sport, neither would have got the nod ahead of Semenya.
The South African athlete couldn’t have done much more than she did to earn her place among the finalists this year, but the IAAF and its members have again made it clear where she stands in their view.
She won’t be getting the award, and no matter what the Court of Arbitration for Sport decides regarding the IAAF’s rules, she probably never will.
But to cut her off from the process in the early stages simply because she’s an unwanted complication is petty and unfair.
As things stand, Semenya is competing within the rules and displaying the necessary composure to be considered a valuable ambassador for international athletics, and she should be given the same opportunities as any of her peers.