Caster Semenya
Semenya was born 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.” As a youngster she was a tomboy enjoying sports typically considered to be the domain of boys and never wore dresses. She has three sisters and a brother and the family are members of the Zion Christian Church.
Semenya attended Nthema Secondary School and now attends Pretoria University as a first-year sports science student. Semenya began running to train for association football. She was disqualified from football for being too rough with other girls when she was fourteen and months later developed a renewed interest in running and soon began to compete.
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
2009 African Junior Championships
In the 2009 African Junior Championships she won both the 800 m and 1500 m races with the times of 1:56.72 and 4:08.01 respectively. With that race Semenya improved her 800 m personal best by seven seconds in less than nine months, including four seconds in that race alone. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) asked Semenya to undergo a gender test after the win.
The 800 m time was the world leading time in 2009 at that date.It was also a national record, championship record, and a personal best by almost four seconds. 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.
