12 Things you don’t know about Caster Semenya

1.  Full name Mokgadi Caster Semenya

2.  Caster Semenya was born on the 7th of January 1991 in Ga-Masehlong, a village in South Africa near Polokwane and grew up in the village of Fairlie, “deep in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province

2.  Caster Semenya has three sisters and a brother, and is said to have been a tomboy as a child

3.  Caster Semenya attended Nthema Secondary School and now attends the University of Pretoria as a sports science student

4.  Caster Semenya began running as training for soccer

5.  In July Caster Semenya participated in the 2008 World Junior Championships, and won the gold in the 800 m at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games with a time of 2:04.23.

6.  In the African Junior Championships Semenya won both the 800 m and 1500 m races with the times of 1:56.72 and 4:08.01 respectively. With that race she improved her 800 m personal best by seven seconds in less than nine months, including four seconds in that race alone. The 800 m time was the world leading time in 2009 at that date. It was also a national record and a championship record. Semenya simultaneously beat the Senior and Junior South African records held by Zelda Pretorius at 1:58.85, and Zola Budd at 2:00.90, respectively

7.  The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) says it was “obliged to investigate” after she made improvements of 25 seconds at 1500 m and eight seconds at 800 m – “the sort of dramatic breakthroughs that usually arouse suspicion of drug use.” The IAAF also asked Semenya to undergo a gender test after the win. News that the IAAF requested the test broke three hours before the 2009 World Championships 800 m final. IAAF president Lamine Diack stated, “There was a leak of confidentiality at some point and this led to some insensitive reactions

8.  In August Caster Semenya won gold in the 800 metres at the World Championships with a time of 1:55.45 in the final, again setting the fastest time of the year.

9.  Following Caster Semenya victory at the world championships, questions were raised about her gender

10.  In March 2010 Caster Semenya was denied the opportunity to compete in the local Yellow Pages Series V Track and Field event in Stellenbosch, South Africa, because the IAAF had yet to release its findings from her gender test

11.  In 2010, the British magazine New Statesman included Caster Semenya in a list of “50 People That Matter 2010”

12.  Caster Semenya was chosen to carry the country’s flag during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. She later won a silver medal in the women’s 800 metres of these games, with a time of 1:57.23 seconds, her season’s best