Caster Semenya unable to escape accusations from fellow athletes
After being reinstated by the IAAF in July after gender testing, and an 11-month ban from competition, Caster Semenya of South Africa is still not accepted by her fellow competitors. Semenya finished first on Sunday in the 800m at the World Championships in Berlin with a time of one minute, 59.90 seconds. Her win came in the same stadium her 2009 World Championship win came in. Although the crowd cheered for Semenya as her name was announced, the reaction from those who lost to her was the same as it was last year.
In 2009 after winning gold, Eliza Cusma Piccione of Italy said “For me, she is a man.” After her race on Sunday Piccione, who finished third, refused to comment, but Canada’s Diane Cummings, who finished eighth, said “we are literally running against a man.”
Semenya had participated in two comeback races in Finland, winning both races with times over two minutes. Her goal at the World Challenge was to finish in less than two minutes. Her time in Berlin, a year ago, was one minute, 55.45 seconds. While she is still over four seconds off her time from last year, the ease of which she won on Sunday is what upsets her competition. While they have sympathy for her personally, they do not feel the IAAF’s decision to allow Semenya to return took their own rights into consideration.
"As athletes we feel frustrated because everyone is allowed to give their opinion except us," said Cummins. "If we give an honest opinion, we're either seen as bad sports or we're not happy because we're being beaten. But that's not the case. [Jemma Simpson of Britain] and I have been beaten tons of times by athletes who we feel are doing it in the realm of what is considered female.”
With 100m remaining, Semenya trailed American Christin Wurth-Thomas by 20m. Semenya seemed at ease picking up the pace in order to pass Wurth-Thomas on the final leg. Semenya admitted to having not worked on her speed at all which makes her come-from-behind burst all the more surprising to her fellow athletes.
There is no question that Semenya passed the gender test that the IAAF uses. There is some question as to whether or not the test is valuable in the first place. Many athletes are reluctant to voice their concerns and to speak against the IAAF, but Cummins is 36 years old, nearing the end of her career, and willing to speak out where others are not.
“Even if she is a female, she's on the very fringe of the normal athlete female biological composition from what I understand of hormone testing,” said Cumming. “So, from that perspective, most of us just feel that we are literally running against a man.”
The world record in the women’s 800m is 1 min, 53.28sec. Semenya’s personal best is just over two seconds short of that. Most feel that it is just a matter of time till Semenya breaks the world record. They also feel they have no chance to win against her. She is only 19 years old and constantly improving. By the time she hits her prime she may be breaking the world record easily.
Semenya’s coach, Michael Seme has said that Semenya intends to ignore any negative comments made towards her, and that they are both looking ahead to the future. She confirmed today that she will be competing in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. She also intends on defending her title at next year’s World Championships in Daegu, South Korea before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
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