Caster Semenya To Receive Gold Medal From 2011 World Championships

After joining a women’s football club based in South African, the two-time Olympic 800m gold medallist, Caster Semenya will now be officially awarded her gold medal from the 2011 world athletics championships. She won’t be able to play at this year's edition in Doha, but the gold will be given to her, finally. She was elevated for the gold medal position two years ago when Russian athlete Mariya Savinova was later disqualified for doping violations.

“Congratulations to our athletes for their achievements and for being honoured as clean athletes,” ASA president Aleck Skhosana said in a media statement. “We are happy that the IAAF now offers a chance to the rightful winners a podium celebration in front of a capacity stadium which the cheats denied them at the original competition.”

Key Takeaways:

• Two-time Olympic 800m gold medallist Caster Semenya will now be officially awarded her gold medal from the 2011 world athletics championships
• The South African will not be there in Doha to receive it physically, so the authorities say they will conduct a formal hand-over to her later.
• Semenya was banned from ​defending her world 800-metre title this month because she refused to take testosterone-reducing drugs

Since Semenya will not be there in Doha to receive it physically, ASA say they will conduct a formal hand-over to her later.

The Olympic 800m gold medallist has recently joined a football club, turning to football after athletics. The 28-year-old is barred from running her signature event at this year’s world track and field championships, scheduled to be held from Sept 28-Oct 6 in Doha, Qatar. The IAAF has passed a rule making it compulsory for female athletes with high level of testosterone to take suppressant if they wish to compete with the other women participants in international sporting events such as Olympics.

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Semenya, the 800m Olympic title winner in 2012 and 2016, was fighting IAAF’s imposed “hyperandrogenic” rules, the regulations for athletes with ‘Differences of Sexual Development’ who want to compete in the female category

In June, it was announced that Semenya was free to run the 800m without having to take medication. But later, she was denied participation in her favoured 800 metres race in Morocco, following a rule change by the IAAF, athletics’ governing body. The upset athlete said that despite Switzerland’s highest court rejecting the IAAF request for eligibility regulations to be imposed on the South African, she has been barred from running Morocco race. She appealed against International IAAF rules over testosterone levels in female athletes. Earlier the Swiss Supreme Federal Court had ordered the IAAF to suspend its testosterone regulations for Semenya until June 25. Yet she was barred from competing in races unless she took testosterone-reducing medication. Semenya refused and won a legal battle. This enabled her to compete in 800m races, before a Swiss court overruled the decision, forcing her to miss the upcoming world championships in Qatar.

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Feature Picture Credit: BBC

Read More Stories By Ria Das