Caster Semenya
Caster Semenya (born 7 January 1991) is a South African middle-distance runner and winner of two Olympic gold medals and three World Championships in the women's 800 metres. She first won gold at the World Championships in 2009 and went on to win at the 2016 Olympics and the 2017 World Championships, where she also won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres. After the doping disqualification of Mariya Savinova, she was also awarded gold medals for the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.
Semenya is an intersex woman, with α-Reductase 2 deficiency, assigned female at birth, with XY chromosomes and naturally elevated testosterone levels caused by the presence of internal testes. Following her victory at the 2009 World Championships, she was made to undergo sex testing, and cleared to return to competition the following year. In 2019, new World Athletics rules came into force preventing women like Semenya from participating in w:400m, 800m, and w:1500m events in the female classification unless they take medication to suppress their testosterone levels. In 2021, she filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights against the restrictions.
Semenya was born in Ga-Masehlong, a village in South Africa near Polokwane (previously called Pietersburg), and grew up in the village of Fairlie, deep in South Africa's northern Limpopo province. She has three sisters and a brother.[ Semenya attended Nthema Secondary School and the University of North West as a sports science student. She began running as training for association football.
Quotes[edit]
- God made me the way I am, and I accept myself. I am who I am, and I'm proud of myself. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- I don't give a damn what people say about me. I like me the way I am, and who cares what other people say? https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- Sometimes I was sad, sometimes happy. Just on and off. Always I felt welcome. It's just, you know, sometimes as a human being, you cannot always be happy. You do good things, you do bad things, people talk. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- I am not a fake. I am natural. I am just being Caster. I don't want to be someone I don't want to be. I don't want to be someone people want me to be. I just want to be me. I was born like this. I don't want any changes. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- I am a fighter. I never give up. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- I'm the kind of person who doesn't really focus on more negativity. I'm a positive person, and I look at things in a positive way. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- It's all about the hard work, knowing your strengths and weaknesses. You work on what you know you can do best. I have speed. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- I know how I look like. I know how I sound. I know how I walk. I'm just gonna be me. I do me, and you do you. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- When I'm racing, I'm thinking about my own race. I'm not thinking about anybody. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- I don't like fame, I prefer to have no profile. But this is not possible for me. This is what I do, so I just have to find a way of being comfortable with it. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
- Education is the key. If you are educated, nothing can defeat you. https://playersbio.com/caster-semenya-quotes/
Specific novel/play/work (date published or created)[edit]
- The Run For Life: Caster Semenya https://www.amazon.com/Run-Life-Caster-Semenya/dp/1676697934 , December 17, 2019 ISBN-10
1676697934
- QHAWE! Mokgadi Caster Semenya , ISBN: 978-1-4856-3072-2, May 2021, 260x210mm, 32 pages,
Languages: English, Afrikaans, isiNdebele, Siswati, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho,
Quotes about person/work[edit]
- Caster Semenya working on memoir, ‘Silence All the Noise’ : https://apnews.com/article/caster-semenya-book-f21d3b0ee4bce91dea726a9a566dad3b
External links[edit]
Category:Athlete Category:South African Category:Living people