Olympic gold medallist and Commonwealth Games champion Caster Semenya has spoken out about the challenges she faced on her way to the top.
Speaking at the Discovery Leadership Summit 2018 in Sandton, Joburg, Semenya said challenging the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was not about her, but for aspiring athletes who want to run and make a success out of their careers.
The IAAF in April introduced new regulations for athletes who compete in events ranging from the 400m to 1mile, which happen to be Semenya’s specialities.
This, said the IAAF, was to regulate women who naturally produce testosterone levels above five nanomoles per litre of blood.
“To be honest, this is not about me. I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in life I was sitting at home thinking I can’t let this thing go on. What about the next generation? It is killing them,” she said.
“What about those young girls who still want to run and are in the same situation as I am? That means their dreams are shattered. Someone needs to do something about this.
“So I told my team we need to fight this thing. Enough is enough. It’s been a long time I’ve let these people command. Now it’s about us.
“I’m a very talented athlete... I want to show them that what they are doing does not make sense.”