Caster Semenya Biography | Age | Career | The penalty
Ms Caster Semenya known as Caster Semenya is a South African Olympian known for her middle-distance track and field competitions.
She is one of the most successful runners in her country and is also on the list of most famous people. Caster is an award-winning runner as she has won several medals at home and abroad.
Caster Semenya Biography
Ms Caster Semenya
Caster Semenya
January 7, 1991
South Africa
Polokwane
Ga Masehlong
Gate (Mother)
Jacob Semenya (father)
Oratile Seed
Oarabile Semenya
Instagram: castersememenya800m
Twitter: @caster800m
Facebook: Caster Mokgadi Semenya
Youth and education
Caster Semenya was born on January 7, 1991 in Gate and Jacob Semena in Ga-Masehlong, Polokwane, South Africa. As a child, she went to live with her grandmother, Maphuti Sekgalain the village of Fairlie, Limpopo, South Africa.
Caster has three sisters and one brother. She attended Nthema High School and usually plays football at his school. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in Northwestern University, where she studied Sports science.
Career
Caster began his sports career at school. She started running as training for association football and in July she took part in the 2008 edition Junior World Championships in the 800m but did not qualify. Later Caster won gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.
In 2009, Caster took part in the African Junior Championships and won the 800m and 1500m. In this race, she broke the senior and junior South African records for the 800 m. Also in August, she won gold in the 800m at the World’s Championships with a time of 1:55.45 in the final. Again, in this race, she set the best time of this year.
In December 2009, Track and Field News named her the women’s 800 meters runner of the year. The following year, Caster was denied the opportunity to compete professionally because the IAAF failed to publish his results. On July 6, the organization cleared her and she returned to international competition.
Nine days after returning to competition, Caster won two minor races in Finland. On August 22, 2010, she ran the same track as her World Championship victory. Although Caster started to slow down, she finished strong, in 2 minutes for the first time since the controversy.
Caster did not participate in the Junior World Championships held in July 2010, but prepared for the commonwealth games coming in October this year. At the beginning of September, she improved on her best record of the season at the Notturna di Milano meeting, but her coaches forced her to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games for which she had been preparing due to injury.
In the 2011 championship she easily won her semi-final and in the final she stayed ahead until Mariya Savinova sprinted past her, leaving her to finish second. Later in 2017, the Anti-Doping Agency banned Savinova from doping and her results were reprimanded. The organizers then awarded Caster the gold medal.
During the 2012 Summer Olympics, Caster volunteered to carry the country’s flag during the opening ceremony. She later won a silver medal in the game’s women’s 800 m, with a time of 1:57; 23, which was his second best.
Caster came in second behind Savinova and won gold in the race, finishing 1.04 seconds ahead of Caster. In November 2015, thWorld Anti-Doping Agency suggested that Savinova and four other Russian athletes be banned for life for doping violations at the Olympics.
On February 10, 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) officially disqualified Savinova’s results from July 2010 to August 2013. She was also stripped of all titles during this time. Five years later, Caster won the victory at the 2012 World Championships where she came second and the silver medal of the 2011 World Championships where she previously finished third.
Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter, filed an appeal in 2015 against the law implementing “gender testing”. The CAS ruled in Chand’s favor, concluding that there was no convincing scientific evidence that these women had an “unfair” performance advantage over others due to their high testosterone levels. This resulted in the IAAF policy on high testosterone in women being suspended and Caster and other women were no longer subject to retesting.
On April 16, Caster became the first person to win all three 400m, 800m and 1500m titles at the South African National Championships. In July Caster again set a new 800m record and on August 20 she also won another 800m gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
At the 2017 World Championships in London, Caster won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters. She also won a gold medal in the women’s 800m at the event. In September 2019, Caster joined the JVW FCa South African football club SAFA Sasol Women’s League owned by Janine VanWyk.
In 2020, Caster revealed that she had decided to change her Olympic event from 400m to 200m so that she could meet the 400m limit at one mile. However, for her to qualify for the 200m, she would need to run a qualifying time of 22.80. Earlier in 2019, she won the 5000m at the South African Champion.
At 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Caster ran in a 5,000 m race. The race was her first major international competition since 2017 and she finished nearly a minute behind first place in her run to the semis. However, she did not reach the final.
controversies
Caster may be one of South Africa’s best, but she’s had some ups and downs in her career. Caster Semenya’s rapid progress on the track in 2009 drew criticism and her sexual orientation was heavily debated. As a result, she was asked to take a gender verification test by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) confirm that it was indeed a woman.
Although the test results were never officially released, some of them were leaked to the media. Even former athletes love Michael Johnson expressed dissatisfaction with the IAAF’s handling of the situation. In 2010, Caster Semenya received an impeccable health check and resumed competition in women’s events.
Brand approvals
Caster has been endorsed by Nike and she was featured in their commercials, which caused a bit of a stir in support of the athletes. She joined other American athletes such as Serena Williams and Colin Kaepernickwho, like her, have suffered some form of discrimination in their careers.
In 2018, she officially became an ambassador of Vitality Discovery with other athletes such as South African Olympians, Chad le Clos and Wayde van Niekerk among others.
Private life
According to the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), Caster Semenya is identified as a DSD Where intersex athlete. Although she has a higher testosterone level than other women, she has not confirmed that she is an intersex woman.
However, she is married to his longtime girlfriend, Violet Raseboya in an elegant white wedding. The couple’s love is the definition of true love as they care for each other intensely which led them to seal their love in a beautiful traditional ceremony in Ga-Dikgale, Limpopo in 2017.
Despite much criticism of their union, the couple announced the arrival of their first daughterOratile. In 2021, they welcomed their second child, Horrible and pictures of their child were posted on their social media platforms.
Documentaries
Caster constantly voices the injustice of many women with differences in sexual development. She does this through public speaking, social media posts and TV interviews. She has appeared in some film documentaries including;
- Too fast to be a woman? : The story of Caster Semenya
- Being: Caster Semenya
- Cradle of dreams
Achievements
Caster Semenya has won many races and obtained many medals. She participated in national, regional and world records and excelled. In her World Athletics Profileshe has her best runs in the 500m, 800m and 1500m races.
Folders
- 800m at the 2009 African Junior Championships – 1:56.72
- 1500m at the 2009 African Junior Championships – 4:08.01
- 800m at the 2009 World Championships – 1:55.45
- Commonwealth Games 2010 800m – 1:58.16
- 2012 Summer Olympics – 1:57.23
- South Africa National Championships 2016 400m – 50.74
- 2016 South Africa National Championships 800m – 1:58.45
- 2016 South Africa National Championships 1500m – 4:10.93
- Rio 2016 Olympic Games – 1:55.28
- 2017 World Championships 800m – 1:55:17
Honors
- Olympic champion – IAAF 2012/2016
- Nominated World Athlete of the Year – 2016
- World Champion – 2009, 2011,
- Bronze medalist at the world championships – 2017
- Commonwealth Games winner – 2008, 2018
- Winner of the African Games – Winner of the World Cup (Continental) 2018 – 2010, 2018
- South African national champion (18 times winner)
- Track and Field Athlete of the Year 2018
Caster Semenya net worth
Caster is one of South Africa’s most respected athletes as she was named among the Time’s 100 most influential people in 2019. The 31-year-old runner has made money as a professional runner and has a net worth to be $113 million.
Social media handles
- Instagram: castersememenya800m
- Twitter: @caster800m
- Facebook: Caster Mokgadi Semenya
