SA's Caster Semenya. File Picture: Reg Caldecott
CAPE TOWN – At last, Caster Semenya will have her say, in her own words.
South Africa’s double Olympic champion in the 800m has announced that she is busy writing her autobiography, which will be published by renowned American publishers W.W. Norton & Company, who are based in New York.
Semenya’s rise from relative obscurity in Limpopo to an 18-year-old world champion in 2009, and later claiming a gold medal at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games, is sure to be a fascinating and inspirational tale in a book titled ‘Silence All the Noise’, which was announced to American media this week, with no release date as yet.
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The 30-year-old has had to endure years of unfair discrimination from various quarters in athletics due to the naturally occurring testosterone in her body that is above the allowed level of five nanomoles per litre of blood.
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World Athletics’ latest regulations for female athletes who have differences in sexual development (DSD) and who wish to compete in distances from 400m to the mile resulted in Semenya missing out on the recent Tokyo Olympics, having made a late bid to qualify for the 5,000m race.
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She has lost a few court battles in trying to have the regulations set aside, with her current case still sitting at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. She hopes to compete in the 800m event at next year’s world championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“My life has had its struggles, but it has mostly been a joy. Through my example, I want to educate, enlighten, and inform about how the world can welcome those born different,” Semenya said in a statement to American media this week.
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“You may have heard some of my story over the years, and you might have seen me running or standing proudly on the podium at the Olympics.
“But there is still so much I need to relate about strength, courage, love, resilience, and being true to who you are. I want this book to show people around the world how to do just that.”
W.W. Norton & Company, who also published South African author Nadine Gordimer’s non-fiction collection ‘Telling Times: Writing and Living, 1954-2008’, said that there would also be a young readers’ edition of Semenya’s memoir.
The announcement of Semenya’s book comes a few days after Springbok captain Siya Kolisi’s autobiography, ‘Rise’, was released in South Africa.
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