"I am a dreamer. She believes the IAAF is “obsessed” with her. I am natural. And does she think the public perception tallies with that description? “If people want to come watch Caster Semenya run, then let them watch Caster Semenya run,” Semenya says. "I am a very easy person.". “But when a man performs, ohhhh great, all hail the greatest.” Even the CAS said in its decision that the IAAF regulations are “discriminatory,” but that such discrimination is reasonable and necessary to promote a level playing field for female athletes. One fan at the Prefontaine Classic swears she “never felt more alive” than when she just watched Semenya glide. I know I have to do something that will better my life. It is difficult to link the engaging 24-year-old who has granted the BBC a rare interview with the haunted athlete. "She is fantastic, really one of the most down-to-earth people you can imagine," he says. She's fighting so all women can run free. I don't want any changes.". And run she will. “The train is moving, I’m not stopping, you understand?” says Semenya. … Or walk away.”. Caster Semenya is back. At the 2032 Olympics–wherever they take place–Semenya would be 41: maybe, she jokes, she’ll run a marathon. “Caster Semenya is a cisgender woman at birth and she has been competing as a woman,” Mosier, told Hill.TV. It is about yourself, controlling yourself - what is in you. A place of privacy and hope for what lies ahead. The 800-m world-record time, set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia, is within reach: Semenya ran her fastest-ever race just a year ago, less than a second off Kratochvilova’s pace and the fourth best time ever. The main focus now is the World Student Games. Sometimes maybe a little bit arrogant," she says. Caster Semenya says her long-running case over testosterone levels in female athletes has "destroyed" her "mentally and physically". It depends if the body allows me to go for it. So Semenya ran the Prefontaine race without having to suppress her hormones, and she can compete at the world championships that begin on Sept. 27 in Doha, Qatar. Caster Semenya takes new step in appeal. But if she can stay injury free, she will take some stopping in Rio. When I grew up, I grew up like that. A guy gives her a thumbs-up. But she still has work to do, both on and off the track. The World Championshipsexternal-link in Beijing in August may come too soon for Semenya. 2009: The LetsRun.com Youtube video interview of Semenya that has nearly a million page views as it was one of the first video interviews of Semenya (an … The story of this brave, brilliant athlete, whose very being was questioned so publicly, is one that still captures the imagination. A silver chain with a cross hangs from her neck and the late-afternoon sun glints off her earrings. Britain's double world and Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu joined the group last winter. A quiet university townexternal-link an hour and a half from Johannesburg, Potchefstroom has rarely been described as paradise, even by its most partisan resident. She felt like the IAAF treated her like a “lab rat,” and she says she won’t take part in another experiment. Perhaps you also recall the chaos, confusion and controversy that descended on an athlete who just wanted to run. Semenya combines training with a sports science degree at the town's North West University. "It's a blessing having her in our group. These days the England cricket team are regular visitors in their off season. Read full article. When Caster Semenya steps out of her Pretoria house every day for a run, she takes one of two memorised routes: a 30- or a 60-minute loop. "I like the chemistry, the combination is good. There is a tangible buzz. Britain's double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes trained under Verster's guidance during much of her long and illustrious career. “I’m here to stay. "The break was good for me," she says. By signing up you are agreeing to our, Women Are Naturally Fitter Than Men, Study Says. Without them, I am nothing.". 800m (1:55.45), 400m (52.54), 600m (1:25.56), 1500m (4:08.01), World Championship 800m gold at Berlin 2009, World Championship 800m silver at Daegu 2011, Olympic 800m silver at London 2012. with a late sprint to the line that saw her pass six athletes in the final 50m. You can see the full interview with Caster Semenya on Victoria Derbyshire, 09:15-11:00 BST on BBC Two and BBC News Channel. She’s Studying Sports Science. By paying track officials little mind in return, she’s already a step ahead. "If it wasn't for my family, I don't think I could have survived," she says, when recalling the incident that saw her forced to undergo a series of gender verification tests, news of which was made public by athletics' governing body, the. Those around Semenya are quietly optimistic about her form. "It helped me to get back to my senses. “What they’re saying is, when a woman performs at a high level, it’s a problem,” says Semenya. Semenya told the BBC in 2009 that her family had helped her get through what she says was a hard time. Education is the key. The subject of the world recordexternal-link - which stands at 1:53.28, run by Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 - also comes up a number of times. I just want to be me. In April 2016, Semenya was the first person to win all three of the 400m, 800m, and 1500m titles at the South African National Championships. Semenya’s in her 12th international season: her idol, 800-m runner Maria Mutola of Mozambique, ran for 21 years and competed in six Olympics. With all her gold medals, Semenya could easily abandon this legal fight and walk away from her sport with her place in the record books. Six years have passed since she won the world 800m title with effortless, inevitable ease. Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt—AFP/Getty Images, Who Should Be TIME’s Person of the Year for 2020? But now I want to focus more on the future, I don't want to go back there. The South African runner is widely believed to be intersex, with testosterone levels much higher than … Lynsey Sharp interview: 'I've received death threats about Caster Semenya, but people think I've said worse than I have' Exclusive: A tumultuous year saw Sharp undergo surgery to … This is Semenya as the world has rarely seen her before -. “It’s O.K.” But she never questioned her gender. She is, quite visibly, an athlete at peace with a new coach, a new training group and a new hairstyle. Semenya's new training group includes some of the world's best middle distance runners. It was suggested she might be scared of winning gold and the attention that might bring. “He must have balls to come tell me that, ‘Look, Caster, I don’t want you,'” says Semenya. I am just being Caster. She is also noticeably slimmer than the athlete we remember. The significant problem in partial AIS is that although testosterone … “What they care about is just seeing one human inspiring another human. "I think they understand me as I am. And Semenya believes she is already feeling the benefits of his expertise. On a warm afternoon at her home track, she was swamped by fans, who laughed and screamed with joy when they were able to lay even a fingertip on her as she jogged towards the warm-up track. 800m runner Jenny Meadows joined the group as did former world and Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu. And what I dream of is to become Olympic champion, world champion, world record holder - I can't stop running because of people. Caster Semenya: you may remember the name. The world, however, watches with fascination. International Association of Athletics Federations. "It was for the best, to rest the body and the mind. Last year, LeBron James caught one of her races in Berlin. A Swiss court just upheld a 2019 ruling against Caster Semenya that bans her from competing against other women runners due to naturally elevated testosterone levels and XY chromosomes. For the past two years, Semenya's career has stalled. In August 2017, Semenya won gold in the 800 metres and bronze in the 1,500 metres at the World Championships in London in August. Semenya's victory was as decisive as what followed was shocking. We meet in Potchefstroom, the town she now calls home. This appears in the July 29, 2019 issue of TIME. But athletics remains her passion. South Africa does not expect anything from Semenya. (When I mention this to her, she tosses aside public office and preaching. As has her South African 800m title. Last year, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) issued new rules mandating that female athletes with “differences of sex development”–defined as the presence of XY chromosome pairings normally found in men–could not compete in women’s races from the 400 m to the mile, unless through medical intervention they lowered their natural testosterone to a level closer to what the IAAF calls the “female range.” The IAAF argues that the high levels of testosterone produced by athletes with such a genetic makeup provide them with an unfair advantage over other female athletes in these races. That broad smile beaming. So who is the real Caster? The university town is a hotbed of sporting talent. The softly-spoken South African gives a rare interview Caster Semenya: 'I prefer to have no profile. There are parks in the city filled with jacaranda trees, but Caster prefers the streets, where obstacles on the familiar pavements force her to weave, and the hills test her endurance. Caster Semenya and Violet's first encounter was quite hilarious and during an interview she had this to share; "We met in a restroom in 2007. Last updated on 19 May 201519 May 2015.From the section Athletics. We're not going to worry too much about the World Championships. 5 of 10 FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2018, file photo, Caster Semenya, the current 800-meter Olympic gold and world champion from South Africa, speaks during an interview in New York. I don't want to be someone I don't want to be. Caster Semenya unsuccessfully challenged a rule to restrict the level of testosterone permitted in female runners in a case about athletes with differences of sexual development. Then there’s the larger battle for her rights, and the rights of others to run free. You’d better get used to it. Semenya's personal best of one minute 55.45 seconds, run in winning that infamous 2009 world title, remains the high watermark in her career. in Beijing in August may come too soon for Semenya. Is it that much to ask?”, Semenya, who earned a university sports-science degree in South Africa in 2018, has taught herself to silence all the noise around her. She spends the afternoon in the gym at the university, working alongside her training partners in a facility that has been converted from changing rooms and toilets. I grew up with boys, I grew up around boys, I cannot change it. If I like suits, I like suits. an hour and a half from Johannesburg, Potchefstroom has rarely been described as paradise, even by its most partisan resident. I do well. Caster Semenya walks along the side of the Stanford University track in late June, stopping to take selfies with her fans, who crowd around a fence to get a glimpse of her. I’m not going to go around wearing skirts, wearing dresses if they don’t suit me.” So when the IAAF said in court that Semenya was “biologically male,” the description hurt her “more than I can put in words.” It cut to her very being. I am looking forward to the future, I think we will go far.". "It was upsetting, you feel humiliated. Semenya, however, does use our interview to call out IAAF president Sebastian Coe. Then she says she would consider the marathon. For Semenya, though, it marks a new beginning. She is wonderful," said Semenya. "When I am in that lane and I hear 'Caster Semenya from South Africa', I always know I am doing it for my people," she says. “If I don’t fight for them, no one will fight for them.”, So she plans to run at the Tokyo Olympics next summer, plus Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028. Caster Semenya heads to European Court of Human Rights for a review Semenya's lawyer Greg Nott says they are upbeat about this next challenge and hope for a … She’d seem to make a good psychologist, pastor or politician. He understands me as a person," she says. If the global governing body for track and field had its way, however, the scene at Stanford would be a mirage. “I run my race, then I’m going home. There are jokes and high fives aplenty. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Caster Semenya Won’t Stop Fighting for Her Right to Run, Just as She Is. She advises me. It was a joke for me. South Africa's Caster Semenya races for the line in a Women's 800 meter semifinal during the World Athletics Championships in London, in 2017. Caster Semenya, the double Olympic champion, insists her athletics future still lays in the 800m despite categorically denying she would take hormone … But if she can stay injury free, she will take some stopping in Rio. Caster Semenya has made a last-minute decision to compete in the Diamond League on Friday, which will be the last time she can run the 800m without taking hormone-suppressing medication. "They love and support me and I will always do them proud, I will always put them first. That familiar smile is ever present. She set … It’s based on inadequate science. “If people want to come watch Caster Semenya run, then let them watch Caster Semenya run,” says track star Caster Semenya. “Why can’t I do that?” Semenya says. “You’re a free soul,” she says. But this is not possible, so I have to find a way of being comfortable with it.' Save on the cover price & free e-Gift card for Giftees! I like the sound of a quiet place. From a young age growing up in a rural village in the South African province of Limpopo, Semenya knew she was different. I don’t have a penis.” She considers the IAAF rule discriminatory. Standing tall, feeling strong. Perhaps you also recall the chaos, confusion and controversy that descended on an athlete who just wanted to run. Semenya is rebuilding her career here, as well as her life. This is Semenya as the world has rarely seen her before - an idol to millions of young South Africans. Her confidence suffered. She belongs to them, she is and always will be a heroine. "There is nothing much to do here - eat, train, sleep, study," she says with a smile. Semenya, under the guidance of coach Jean Verster, is now also training at the famed North West University's facilities. "If it wasn't for my family, I don't think I could have survived," she says, when recalling the incident that saw her forced to undergo a series of gender verification tests, news of which was made public by athletics' governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations.external-link. Caster Semenya has made a last-minute decision to compete in the Diamond League on Friday, which will be the last time she can run the 800m without taking hormone-suppressing medication. "If you have a problem with it, you have to come straight to me and tell me. Semenya was born a woman, was raised as a woman and is legally recognized as a woman. When I run I feel free, my mind is free.". “Of course I’m a woman,” she says back at her hotel north of Palo Alto, Calif. “I have a vagina. "We don't want to rush things, we're going to use the small meets as a step forward. The times will come.". I don't want to be someone people want me to be. Two days and two exams later, we meet again under a willow tree by the grass track she trains on. “This has never been about one athlete.”), Semenya talks in a direct manner, with a sort of contagious defiance. The double olympic champion Caster Semenya's battle with the athletics authorities rolls on as she continues to fight an IAAF regulation that would … As she walks away, she turns back and says she may move into discus or shot put towards the end of her career. I would have carried on with my running, it doesn't matter. Semenya, who has faced scrutiny surrounding her gender for a decade and would be ineligible to run the women’s 800 m naturally under these new rules, challenged them in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which settles global sports disputes. I am not a fake. But a number of British athletes have also joined up with the group. Now it is time to return to the spotlight and to the world stage. It helps me focus. OlympicTalk. “We love you, Caster!” shouts one onlooker. Nijel Amos, Commonwealth 800m champion and David Rudisha's great rival, trains here, as does Andre Oliver, the South African who won bronze in the same event in Glasgow. It is that simple.". Her studies are important to her - like any other student she discusses having to cram her revision in the night before her exams. It is difficult to link the engaging 24-year-old who has granted the BBC a rare interview with the haunted athlete whose gender was questioned in front of the world. I cannot stop because people say 'no, she looks like a man, this and that'. Semenya insists if the IAAF rule holds up, she’ll refuse to take medication to lower her testosterone. “Then I will tell you, that’s your problem.” (In a statement, the IAAF writes that Coe and the organization “feel very strongly” about preserving fair competition for female runners. “I’m not a man; I’m not going to live like a man. "I will attempt to break the world record. It is a mark that is firmly in Semenya's sights with the Rio Olympics a year away. Is it even possible to classify athletes as men and women when the human body sometimes sends out more complicated signals? Bostwana's Nijel Amos and South Africa's Andre Olivier are two standout names. "If I win the Olympics, a gold medal, I'll say I have accomplished my dream," she says. “It’s like killing yourself.” In CAS testimony, Semenya revealed from around 2010 to 2015, at the IAAF’s insistence, she took birth control pills to lower her testosterone; she said the drugs caused her to feel sick constantly, suffer from regular fevers and experience abdominal pain, among other symptoms. whose gender was questioned in front of the world. Kelly Holmes and Team GB's athletics team used it as their winter training base for years. In June, she gave a pep talk to South Africa’s World Cup team in Paris: she says she could give soccer a shot too. Born in a tiny village in South Africa's northern Limpopo province, Semenya's first love was football before a teacher got her interested in running. Caster Semenya, the favorite in the women's 800 meters, is controversial. “You’re calling me something I’m not,” says Semenya. "I've always liked to be on my own, since I was young. The training group she refers to is coached by the impressive and highly regarded South African. an idol to millions of young South Africans. "Jean is a very funny, very easy guy. The effort is obvious, as is the focus. As we walk across to the playing fields she says: "It is not about what people think of you, it is about proving them wrong. “There are a lot of athletes who will have the same problem as me, but they cannot fight,” says Semenya. Durban - In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Amanda Davies, IAAF President Sebastian Coe shared his view on the Caster Semenya ruling ahead of the World Athletics Championships in … "I was world champion but I was never able to celebrate it. Athlete Caster Semenya has opened up about her love story with her wife, Violet Raseboya in a TV interview about her life. Read about our approach to external linking. At the London Olympics she took silver, with a late sprint to the line that saw her pass six athletes in the final 50m. Or maybe that’s not a joke. "A very humble athlete, very strong, easy to talk to. With a snort, a laugh and a wave, she is gone. That fits with our philosophy.". She won gold in the women's 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships with a time of 1:55.45, the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the 2017 World Championships in her new personal best, 1:55.16. And the group here is great. All Rights Reserved. Mokgadi Caster Semenya OIB (born 7 January 1991) is a South African middle-distance runner and 2016 Olympic gold medalist. But then if I like trousers, I’m going to wear trousers. "Training with Christine was great. Caster Semenya has made a last-minute decision to compete in the Diamond League on Friday, which will be the last time she can run the 800m without taking hormone-suppressing medication. I am a runner, what I do best, is running. You’re thinking of me. An absent coach, in the shape of the great Maria Mutola - a childhood hero - was another. “If I have to walk away, of course I will walk away,” she says. We want to enjoy what we're doing. “I have a deep voice, I don’t have boobs, I play around with boys,” she says. He knows what it takes to create a champion. Don’t destroy it! What baffles Semenya most: Why would the IAAF want to drive a star attraction from its sport? Caster Semenya was adamant as to whether she will submit to new testosterone regulations and take hormone-reducing medication: "Hell, no." If you are educated, nothing can defeat you.". - which stands at 1:53.28, run by Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 - also comes up a number of times. But she’s open to a sports-shrink practice.) It is their problem. “When you’re great,” Semenya tells TIME while enjoying the adoration, “you’re great.”. She considers him a “chicken” for making his arguments against her in court and the media, rather than engaging with Semenya directly. An athlete whose status and reach extends far beyond the track. An athlete whose status and reach extends far beyond the track. Verster has been a calming influence. But next year I will be 25/26. It is about doing what you are best at. "How can you be scared? "I could never give up athletics," she says. Caster Semenya: The full interview Caster Semenya: you may remember the name. "Running is what I will always do. And there is a good chance to do that," she adds. I’m not even thinking about you.” Semenya, however, does use our interview to call out IAAF president Sebastian Coe.