Caster Semenya Insists That She Is a Woman Despite Her Organs Being Different
- Caster Semenya is adamant that she will not take testosterone suppressing medication in line with an International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) ruling
- She claims that her training is what made her successful and not her testosterone levels which she was born with
- Semenya might not be able to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to the IAAF's ruling
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Caster Semenya spoke to The Guardian newspaper and said that she would not take any medication to suppress her testosterone levels.
Semenya is currently banned from taking part in 400m and 1 500m track events by the International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) after the organisation ruled that she could only take part in the events if her testosterone levels were suppressed.
Source: Getty Images
The athlete claimed that her testosterone levels had nothing to do with her success and that it was her intensive training that ensured her success.
According to Times Lives, she said that she trained like a "slave" to be the best she could be. She did admit that she had higher testosterone levels but she was born with a disorder.
Semenya used examples from other sports where successful athletes were born with certain features that made them better than their rivals.
She used Michale Phelps's arms and LeBron James's height as factors that made them successful, attributes they were born with.
The IAAF's ruling will more than likely prevent Semenya from competing in the 2021 Olympic games being held in Tokyo, Japan.
Earlier, Briefly News reported that South Africans are delighted in the fact that sprinter Caster Semenya bagged another victory in 15 minutes during the South African championships in Pretoria on Wednesday.
As she was targeting a spot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Semenya’s route took a massive blow as she failed to qualify.
Despite the 800m Olympic champion having clinched the win in 15 minutes, clocking 52.28 seconds (15:52.28), it was unfortunately outside the qualifying time required, which is 15:10.00, en route to Japan.
In similar news, 16-year-old Pieter Coetzee is set to represent South Africa at the upcoming 2021 Olympic Games in Japan and has reflected on his journey.
The schoolboy is currently based in Tshwane and has accomplished a milestone many are still dreaming of.
Coetze has qualified to participate at the global showpiece as a senior swimmer in the 100m backstrokes, set to be staged in Tokyo later this year.
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Source: Briefly News
