Caster Semenya returns to racing June 24 in Spain
Running star coming back to the track, pending results of her gender verification test
Caster Semenya has decided to wait for the results of her gender verification tests before returning to competitive running, saying Tuesday that she will race on June 24 at a meet in Zaragoza, Spain.
The 800-meter world champion said in a statement that she had agreed to the request by Athletics South Africa to wait for the results of the tests, which are expected in June.
Semenya said she still believed she should be allowed to compete but had reflected on the events of the past week. She was prevented from running in a competition near Cape Town last Tuesday and responded by threatening legal action.
“I believe that the decision to bar me from competing in Stellenbosch last week was unlawful and wrongful,” Semenya said in the statement. “I have, however, considered the request by Athletics South Africa (ASA) that I await the conclusion of the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) processes by the beginning of June this year before I return to competitive athletics.”
The 19-year-old South African, whose lawyers had said they would file legal papers against ASA if they did not clear her to run, said she wanted confirmation from the IAAF that her situation would be clarified by the beginning of June.
“I welcome ASA’s public statement that it will ensure that the IAAF is held to its undertaking to complete its processes by the beginning of June,” Semenya said. “I trust that ASA will do the honorable thing and stick to its word in this regard.
“I have also instructed my legal representatives to seek confirmation by the IAAF that it will complete its processes by the beginning of June. I also trust that this will be forthcoming.”
IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said Tuesday that he could only reiterate the track body’s official position on Semenya.
“No comment until the case is concluded,” Davies said.
Semenya had been expected to demand permission from ASA to run at a meet in Germiston, near Johannesburg, on Tuesday. ASA has upheld a request by the IAAF to not allow Semenya to run competitively until her “medical process” has been completed.
Semenya has not competed since she blew away the field to win the 800-meter gold medal at the world championships in Berlin last August.
Her dramatic improvement in times and muscular build led the IAAF to order gender tests. The IAAF has refused to confirm or deny Australian media reports that the tests indicate Semenya has both male and female sex organs.
More Related Stories
-
Developers evict historic women's shelter to build luxury hotel
-
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship
-
DHS admits "impossible" to control 3D-printed guns
-
Journalists file suit against Manning trial secrecy
-
Russia: Syrian regime ready to talk peace
-
Report: Nearly a quarter of all Americans struggle to afford food
-
Ted Cruz against the world
-
Louie Gohmert: Women should be forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term
-
2 men arrested for endangering commercial aircraft
-
Oversized load blamed for bridge collapse
-
This is what Guy Fieri looks like as a balloon
-
Iran hackers aiming at U.S. energy firms
-
Lawyers release data in attempt to discredit Trayvon Martin
-
Anonymous rallies behind Kaitlyn Hunt
-
Bridge collapse: Part of "aging infrastructure"
-
Mistrial in penalty phase of Arias case
-
Amanda Bynes arrested after hurling bong from window
-
Interstate 5 bridge collapses north of Seattle
-
Mississippi could begin prosecuting women for miscarriages
-
Teenage girl claims she was beaten up for looking like Taylor Swift
-
UK Military: London attack victim was a "model soldier"
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
Most Read
-
Judge tells lesbian couple to separate -- or lose kids
-
9-year-old slams Rahm over Chicago schools
-
Greek yogurt, toxic waste hazard?
-
Tornado survivor to Wolf Blitzer: Sorry, I'm an atheist. I don't have to thank the Lord
-
Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer
-
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship
-
Glenn Beck: CNN interview with atheist tornado survivor was a setup!
-
Graphic video reportedly shows possible London machete attack suspect
-
Joe Francis apologizes for calling jury "retarded"
-
Couple files groundbreaking lawsuit over child's sexual-reassignment surgery
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com
129 points130 points131 points | 12 comments
76 points77 points78 points | 19 comments
Comments
0 Comments