Caster enjoys sweet return to the track

Having just accepted the offer of a place on an MA Sports Journalism course at St Mary's University College in Twickenham, there is one aspect which I am greeting with a great deal of anticipation. The South African Olympic Team are using the university's sporting facilities as their base for the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London. This will give me, along with the other students, the chance to rub shoulders with one of the most controversial sportspeople in recent years - for all your Tim Montgomery's, Marion Jones', Justin Gatlin's and Floyd Landis', the furore surrounding South Africa's 800m runner Caster Semenya takes some beating. The teenager won the World Championship title in Berlin last summer. But that was just the start of the story.
Semenya didn't just win the title - she shattered her personal best and national records throughout the year. She won the 1500m and 800m title's at last year's African Junior Championships. That in itself wasn't a surprise. In the 800m (where she would achieve notoriety in Berlin) she improved her personal best by seven seconds in less than nine months, and four seconds in that race alone. A big chunk over such a short distance.
The following month in Berlin, however, she shot into the world's headlines by cutting another second off her personal best to win the world title, and in doing so running the fastest time off the year in the 800m. But as I said, that was only the start of the story. Semenya's rapid development over the year raised the issue of performance enhancing drugs. But questions soon began to surround her gender, clouding her success and achievement.
What followed were a serious gender tests to ascertain if there was something amiss. It is fair to say the IAAF could have handled the case with more sensitivity. He various criticism's which have been leveled at athletic's governing body - racism, and an affront on Semenya's human rights and civil liberties, from such luminaries as Michael Johnson. The IAAF's response refuted these accusations, stating instead the reason behind the test 'was not suspected cheating, but to investigate whether Semenya had a 'rare genetic condition' which gave her an unfair competitive advantage.' To say that's an ambiguous explanation is an understatement, but although the results of the tests will remain private for 'privacy reasons', Semenya's return to competitive athletics earlier this month suggests there can only have been one outcome from the gender tests.
All of this has resulted in Semenya becoming a household name (for some of the right, and some of the wrong reasons), as well as becoming a national hero back home in South Africa. She has enjoyed widespread support from politicians, activists and civic rights leaders, and she gave an interview to South African magazine YOU, where she said, 'God made me the way I am and I accept myself.'
But the same can't be said of the country's sporting federation, Athletics South Africa. To some extent, she was hung out to dry. There had been concerns over her gender before the championships even began, and ASA's president Leonard Chuene rejected a plea from team doctor Harold Adams to withdraw Semenya from the championships due to the need to keep her medical history confidential. If reports are to be believed, the gender tests which were carried out went far beyond intrusive - they bordered on abuse. After quitting his post after admitting he wished he had done more to personally protect Semenya, South Africa's head coach Wilfred Daniels revealed 'a series of grotesque tests were forced upon Caster.' These apparently included a two-hour examination of her sex organs, hitched in stirrups as the doctors' took photographs. This left her distraught, and her personal coach Michael Seme was surprised she didn't commit suicide such was the invasive nature of the tests.
To sum up this messy tale - ASA recognised a talented athlete, but had doubts about her legitimacy to compete. They let her enter the competition anyway, and won a rare athletics gold medal. Then when the inevitable questions started to be asked, she was left to fend for herself.
For me personally, it would be fascinating to meet the athlete who has had so many articles written about her. She made what was supposed to be a low key return after 11 months in limbo in Lappeenranta in Finland on July 15th. Or that was the plan, but Semenya knew the world's media was watching as she was surrounded by flashing cameras and reporters. But she went about her business as usual, and while her winning time of 2.04 was nine seconds off her winning time in Berlin, it was an admirable achievement for someone who's been through so much in the last year. But rather than get caught up in the controversy, she declared she 'was not bitter about anything that happened,' and how she was, 'happy to be back competing.' Her immediate aim will be trying to claim the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Delhi in October.
Her attitude is refreshing amidst all the fanfare surrounding her - she never stops smiling, despite continuing suggestions from the world's journalists about 'gender verification being needed' and suspicions of 'intersex', while many confessed that 'the event ahead sat uneasy with their conscience.' There was an element of gawping at a freak show in Finland, and that, unfortunately, is what Semenya may have to look forward to for the rest of her career. These questions may never go away, but all she can do is keep smiling, keep on competing and keep on winning. And you wouldn't bet against her to do just that.