Semenya looks to forget gender tests as she returns to competition
Caster Semenya of South Africa won gold in the 800m at the World Championships in Berlin last year, but was then forced to withdraw from further competition after questions were raised about her gender. It was not until July 2010 that the IAAF cleared her, allowing her to return to competition.
Semenya did not compete in the World Junior Championships or the African Championships held in July due to not being in competition shape, but she is ready now and aiming to continue her comeback at the World Challenge event on Sunday in Berlin, the site of her questioned gold medal performance. Semenya has already won two minor events in Finland with times of 2 min, 4.22 sec and 2 min, 2.41 sec. She will have to improve significantly on those times in order to reach her gold medal time of 1 min, 55.45 sec.
“I can't really tell you what I expect, according to my trainer, I am aiming to run under two minutes," she said. "For me, it is pretty good to be back in Berlin. I am happy to be back, I have achieved good times here.”
Semenya is hoping that the ISATF meet will help prepare her for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this October and beyond. While the Berlin event is not part of the IAAF’s Diamond League Programme, it has been able to attract many world champions and should be an adequate test before the Commonwealth Games in October. Poland’s hammer-throw champion Anita Wlodraczky, Germany’s discus champion Robert Harting, and Australia’s pole-vault champion Steven Hooker will all be present.
Semenya’s long-term goal is to win gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She hopes that the time off will ultimately help her achieve that goal.
“For my athletics career, my time off wasn't good, but for my family, my trainer and my training partners, it was," said Semenya. “Maybe it will help me, I will run faster.”
While the event in Berlin will help Semenya, it could also bring back some painful memories of her last trip to the German capital. Italy’s Elisa Cusma Piccione will be present on the starting line with Semenya. Piccione finished sixth behind Semenya at the World Championships and added to the controversy when she proclaimed that, “For me, she is a man.”
The IAAF became suspicious of Semenya after she improved by 25 seconds in the 1500m and eight seconds in the 800m. Their original suspicion was that she was taking performance enhancing drugs but also asked her to take a gender test after her win. IAAF president, Lamine Diack, admitted that there was a confidentiality leak, but they only made the test public knowledge after the media had already reported it.
Semenya and her Finnish manager Jukka Harkonan declined to comment on rumours that Semenya was asked to undergo unspecified medical treatment by the IAAF.
"The case is closed. We want to forget," Harkonen said. "I have no idea why the investigation took that long."
After Berlin, Semenya will travel to Brussels to compete in the Diamond League finals where she could match up against the silver and bronze medallists that lost to her a year ago, Kenya’s Janeth Kepkosgei and Britain’s Jenny Meadows. Kepkosgei is the current Diamond League leader.
The final cut for the Commonwealth Games is 25 August and while Semenya has not yet been added to the South African team, it is expected that she will be included. More important to Semenya than the Commonwealth Games is next year’s World Championships in Daegu, South Korea where she intends to defend her title.
After Brussels, she will compete in Rovereto, Italy on 31 August and Milan on 9 September.
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