Growing as a child, Olympic champion Caster Semenya at some
stage had to walk into a change room naked just to prove that she was a girl as
her teammates struggled to compete with her.
Speaking at the Standard Bank Top Women Conference held at
Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on the East Rand, Semenya said her humbled
beginnings made her the tough woman she had become. She said she grew up around
boys and had to walk seven miles every single day - the reason she is fast.
“I was always in the bush [training]. Bullies for me never
existed because how I responded to them, was way rough. I was one of those
young [ladies] that had no fear. I had goals. I knew that everything I touched
would turn to gold,” she said.
With a mother who played netball and a father who was a
soccer player, being in sport was a foregone conclusion. Semenya started
playing soccer at the age of four and she was described as a “diski queen”.
“My dad thought I was going to be with Banyana Banyana but
I disappointed him because I had to sell my soccer boots for spikes instead. He
was quite surprised. Running is my destiny. When I’m on track, I forget about
everything,” she said.
Semenya said she had always had to compete with older
children when running as those her age could simply not match her talent. To
run even faster, Semenya then trained in the sand so that she could not be
matched on tracks.
“I think my parents raised me well. They have never
questioned what I do, my feelings, how I see life. They accepted me for who I
am. They could see that this one was a little bit different. I did not like
being in the kitchen but being in the garden. I just wanted to give you
background why I am tough, why am I fearless, why I do not care about what other
people think about me,” said Semenya.
She, however, continued to play soccer at school and her
skills were so good that some did not believe she was a girl.
“They started questioning, are you really a girl? One day,
I walked naked in the changing room [to prove to them],” Semenya said. Sowetan
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