All the cameras have again been on Caster Semenya this week, for all the wrong reasons, as she fights for her athletics career at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Semenya is normally in the spotlight for winning Olympic and world championship gold medals, but the IAAF’s proposed regulations with regards to female classification for distances from the 400m to the mile has resulted in the 28-year-old South African superstar having to slug it out in Lausanne, Switzerland.
And she has been receiving a huge amount of support from ordinary South Africans, Mzansi’s finest athletes such as Wayde van Niekerk and Chad le Clos, to numerous other celebrities and politicians.
Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa is flying to Switzerland on Wednesday night to support Semenya, while the 800m legend is backed up by world-class legal teams and experts fighting for her cause at the CAS.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has also taken time out to wish Semenya well, posting on Twitter this week: “@Caster800m Mokgadi. Champion. Beacon of hope. My daughter. This is only to remind you of your greatness; because you constantly remind us that nothing beats the enduring power of the human spirit. You may run alone on the track, but know now that you run with 57 million & more.”
@Caster800m Mokgadi. Champion. Beacon of hope. My daughter. This is only to remind you of your greatness; because you constantly remind us that nothing beats the enduring power of the human spirit. You may run alone on the track, but know now that you run with 57 million & more. pic.twitter.com/hnyHJgWfhV
— President Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) February 19, 2019
Semenya received a ‘Courage’ award from tennis stalwart Billie Jean King last year, and the American also took to social media to express her backing for the double 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
“My friend Caster Semenya is unequivocally female. Forcing women w/naturally high testosterone to give up ownership of their bodies & take drugs to compete in sport is barbaric, dangerous, and discriminatory. I stand behind her and hope she prevails. #IAAF” King tweeted.
My friend Caster Semenya is unequivocally female. Forcing women w/naturally high testosterone to give up ownership of their bodies & take drugs to compete in sport is barbaric, dangerous, and discriminatory. I stand behind her and hope she prevails. #IAAF https://t.co/L0VZ7sg2xC
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) February 19, 2019
The hearing is set to conclude on Friday, with a final decision expected sometime in March.
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