South Africa’s sports minister said on Friday there would be a “third world war” if Caster Semenya is barred from competing, after a media report that the gold medalist is a hermaphrodite.
“I think it would be the third world war. We will go to the highest levels of contesting such a decision,” sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile told journalists.
Stofile was reacting to a Sydney Daily Telegraph report that cited an unnamed source involved in tests on the world 800m world champion as saying Semenya had both male and female sex organs and no womb or ovaries.
South Africa’s government will carry out its own tests on Semenya before the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) makes a decision in November on the 18-year-old’s case, reported the Sapa news agency.
“We can’t wait for November,” Stofile told the briefing.
The teenager, who grew up in a rural northeast South Africa village, was meant to run a 4km race at the national cross-country championships in Pretoria yesterday but had pulled out, her coach said.
“We have decided that Caster will not run tomorrow,” said Michael Seme, adding that the runner was “not feeling well.”
Athletics officials and Semenya’s family reacted angrily to the article, which follows a media frenzy after the IAAF confirmed Semenya was subject to a sex verification probe before she won the 800m in Berlin last month.
“I’ve raised her as young girl and I have no doubt that she is a girl. As the family, we don’t care who is saying what and we also don’t care, even if she won’t be running internationally, but we will always support her athletic talent,” Semenya’s grandmother Maphuthi Sekgale told the Times newspaper.
The world athletics governing body downplayed any involvement with the report, saying in a statement released on Friday: “We would like to emphasize that these should not be considered as official statements by the IAAF.”
South African President Jacob Zuma took a swipe at the media on Friday, saying it had invaded the teenager’s privacy.
“I think we are faced with an unfortunate situation in this country where we claim to respect privacy and the rights of people, but then we do something that moves against those principles and values,” he said.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) described the reports as “offensive and demeaning”, welcoming Stofile’s saying that legal advice would be sought on the saga.
“The South African government is right to explore all legal ways to protect Caster against violation of her rights,” the ANC said in a statement.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but