Caster Semenya and her wife Violet Raseboya. Picture: Instagram
Cape Town – SA track sensation Caster Semenya says her time under lockdown has been spent much like everyone else’s - being home, and growing her new family.
Speaking during the first of the Coronation Fund Managers’ new Talking Investments webinar series yesterday, which will run for the next six months hosting various speakers, Semenya said she valued family over everything.
Yesterday also marked four years since Semenya raced to the gold medal in the women’s 800m at the Rio Olympics, a win that catapulted Team South Africa’s medal count into double figures.
“I started my own family and the lockdown has given me an opportunity to be at every stage of my little one’s development.
“I value family more than anything in my life. I call my parents, I can spend time with them and observe them as they’re getting older.
“It’s been a blessing to be able to connect,” Semenya said.
With the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, Semenya, 29, said she has time to make a decision on which race she wants to run.
She has also been forced to rethink categories after the Court of Arbitration for Sport found in favour of the International Association of Athletics Federations rules that require Semenya and other athletes with differences of sexual development to lower their testosterone concentration to five nanomoles per litre of blood if they want to compete in the 400m to 1500m events on an international level.
She has filed an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.
“I’m fast enough to do anything I want. It’s about believing in yourself,” she said.
She said that naturally, she has her moments of self-doubt, and in those, she turns to her family.
Having dealt with criticism from a young age, Semenya said she is also her own consultant many times.
“When I was 18 I would get angry and respond to certain things. But I’ve matured enough to be silent and give you actions to show that I do not care.
"I love myself, I respect myself, and I respect myself for who I am. I don’t need any human to define me. Only my doings can define me to the world.
“My parents always tell me ‘if you want something, go for it, we will support you even if you fail’. In a marriage, your partner is your pillar.
“The minute you start doubting your team, it becomes a problem."
Cape Times
Related Topics: