Caster Semenya: Fans urge athlete not to quit after her cryptic tweet

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Caster Semenya: Fans urge athlete not to quit after her cryptic tweet

2 May 2019 Athletics

Fans urged Caster Semenya not to quit athletics after she posted a cryptic tweet following the loss of her appeal against regulations restricting testosterone levels in female runners.

Semenya will have to take medication to reduce her testosterone level if she is to continue competing at 800m.

The Olympic champion, 28, is confirmed for that distance in the Diamond League season opener in Doha on Friday.

Semenya's tweet included a quote which referred to knowing when to walk away.

One person replied to Semenya's tweet saying "never give up" while another urged her to "fight until the end".

-snip-

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/48131074

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[SunSeeker]

1. At 28, seems like close to the end of a runner's career anyway. nt

[Auggie]

2. The ruling is mind-boggling unfair ... and probably racist.

Paul Newberry / AP

SNIP

No one thought it would be fair to tie Muhammad Ali’s ankles together because he was so much faster and quicker than the heavyweight boxers of his era.

No one ordered Michael Phelps to swim in a weighted vest because of his long torso, double-jointed ankles and a metabolism that produced less lactic acid than other athletes

SNIP

But that display pointed to another troubling aspect of this case, which began at the 2009 world championships when Semenya — then only 18 — was forced to take a humiliating sex verification test to prove she is a woman. It’s impossible to ignore the racial overtones of a black athlete’s accomplishments being challenged by a largely white group of rivals, especially when we’ve already seen it happen to tennis great Serena Williams and basketball star Brittney Griner.

“To say there is not a racial element to this at all is probably naive,” (Joel) Maxcy (head of the Department of Sport Management at Drexel University in Philadelphia) said. “Would this have happened to a white American athlete? Maybe not.”

FULL OPINION: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/welcome-to-the-world-of-performance-reducing-drugs/articleshow/69154301.cms