Running News Daily

Caster Semenya says World Athletics president Seb Coe damaged her life

Caster Semenya has claimed that World Athletics damaged her personally and professionally through the hormone suppression medication that she had to take for six years.

In her new book, The Race to Be Myself, two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya has revealed how World Athletics seemingly destroyed her life and she singled out President Seb Coe.

In her book, which was published on Tuesday, October 31, the South African claimed that they (World Athletics) damaged her personally and professionally through the hormone suppression medication she was required to take for six years. As reported by The Telegraph, Semenya explained how Coe had something against her.

“With me and Sebastian, it’s personal. He has something against me – that’s how I feel, and no one can change my mind,” Semenya writes.

She started her professional career at 18 and her hyperandrogenism, which comes under the technical label of DSD (differences in sexual development), caused a dilemma in the world of athletics. In her book, she sets the record straight that she was born with a vagina but no womb and internal testes.

After her victory at the World Championships in 2009, World Athletics noted that she could only be allowed to compete if she suppressed her testosterone levels below 10 nmol/L.

However, the restriction was lifted in 2016 after another DSD athlete – Indian sprinter Dutee Chand – brought a legal challenge against the rule.

“The man (Coe) couldn’t help himself. Coe has always struck me as a small man, unsure of himself. He couldn’t stand being questioned about the regulations or me in particular.

He could barely say my name in interviews … My thoughts are that he should concentrate on doing the job he said he would do.

Clean up the sport … Everybody knows there is a systemic doping issue in athletics, and the IAAF has made a mess of dealing with it,” Semenya narrates.

Follow the Pulse Sports Kenya WhatsApp Channel for more news. 

Meanwhile, Semenya noted that she will never again take hormone suppressants – to which she attributes side effects such as weight gain, cramps, and the weakening of bones – in order to race.

She disclosed that she did not know about her DSD condition until it was made public in 2009, soon after that first World Championship gold in Berlin.

“I found out, along with the rest of the world, that I did not have a uterus or fallopian tubes. I would say I was being treated like an animal, but I grew up tending to my family’s livestock, and we treated them with more respect than that,” she explained.

(11/01/2023) Views: 620 ⚡AMP
by Abigael Wuafula

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand is set to hang up her spikes after competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Dutee Chand, who has represented India at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, announced her decision to retire in an interview with ESPN after losing the 200m race to teen sprinter Priya Mohan at the Khelo India University Games. 

“I'm growing old, I'm not as fast as I used to be,” the 26-year-old Dutee Chand, who won silver medals in 100m and 200m races at the Asian Games in 2018, admitted. “I'll pull along for two-three more years if my body cooperates.”

Despite losing the 200m sprint to the 19-year-old Priya Mohan, Dutee Chand managed to win two medals at the Khelo India University Games. She successfully defended her title in the 100m sprint earlier in the Games.

However, Dutee Chand clocked only 11.68 seconds in the 100m, far from her personal best and national record of 11.17 seconds she achieved at the Indian Grand Prix in Patiala last year.

“My body is becoming slower and I began training quite late this season,” Dutee Chand reasoned.

Dutee Chand is also yet to meet the qualification standards set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the Commonwealth Games (11.31s) and the Asian Games (11.36s), scheduled to be held later this year. 

For qualifying for the World Athletics Championships in July, Dutee Chand will need to better her personal best and clock 11.15s to make the cut in the 100m event.

“I've already participated in five events this year to make the cut for these international events… I'm confident of hitting my peak in June-July before the international circuit begins,” Dutee Chand reckoned.

Dutee Chand, who shot to fame after winning the 100m under-18 nationals in 2012, went on to become one of India’s most successful sprinters after PT Usha. 

In 2014, Dutee Chand won the 200m gold medal at Asian Junior Athletics Championships and in 2016, she set a 60m national record (7.28 seconds) at the Asian Indoor Championships to clinch the bronze medal.

After winning two silver medals at the Asian Games in 2018, Dutee Chand became the only Indian to win the gold medal at World University Games in 2019. 

Dutee Chand’s 200m silver medal at the Asian Games was also the first Indian medal in the category since PT Usha’s gold medal in 1986.

In 2022 so far, Dutee Chand won her 100m run at the national inter-university championships in 11.44 seconds in February followed by gold at the Federation Cup in 11.49 seconds in March.

Dutee Chand also made clear her plans to open up 'Dutee Chand Athletics Speed Academy' in Odisha after her retirement to train aspiring sprinters.

(05/04/2022) Views: 996 ⚡AMP

Due to flight suspension India could miss Olympic qualifier world relays in Poland

Star sprinters Hima Das and Dutee Chand might miss the Olympic qualifying World Athletics Relays in Poland on May 1 and 2 as the Indian team's connecting flight to Amsterdam has been suspended following the record-shattering spike in the country's Covid-19 case load.

The women's 4x100m and the men's 4x400m relay teams were to board a KLM flight to Amsterdam in the wee hours on Thursday but the Dutch government has suspended flights from India effective Monday evening.

The Athletics Federation of India is trying to book an alternate flight available to any European city en route to Silesia in Poland where the event will be held.

There is no direct flight to Poland from India."There is a serious doubt that our team may not be able to take part in the World Relays. Many European countries have suspended flights from India. So we may be stuck and there is a high possibility that the team may not go for the event," a top AFI official told PTI.

"But still we are trying, talking to the government and to our embassies if they can help our athletes to fly in any European city like Frankfurt from where they can proceed to Poland. We are also trying for any connecting flight to Dubai or any other West Asian city."

India will also field teams in the men's 4x400m in the event to be held in Chorzow, Silesia, in Poland.The top eight teams from the World Athletics Relays will automatically qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

The women's 4x400m relay team has pulled out of the event as more than two members are unfit.

The Indian mixed 4x400m relay team has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after reaching the final during the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

The AFI was hopeful of the women's 4x100m relay team qualifying for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo.The World Relays will be the first major international event for Indian sprinters since the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha in April 2019.

(04/28/2021) Views: 1,082 ⚡AMP

Science has never fully backed the IAAF claims that DSD athletes have a massive advantage

The science has never fully backed up the IAAF's claim that so-called DSD athletes have a massive advantage in women's races. In 2012, Indian sprinter Dutee Chand (photo) appealed a similar rule restricting testosterone levels to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court ruled the regulation was discriminatory and it was suspended. The IAAF was given time to come back and show that elevated testosterone levels result in a male-like advantage of 10 to 12 per cent. The track body's latest research says athletes like Semenya enjoy a "competitive advantage" but still fails to demonstrate that even a 10 per cent edge exists. And the supposed advantage is based on data from a 2018 study that has yet to be published or reviewed. So if the data still doesn't appear to be there, what is this really about? Are there other factors driving Caster Semenya's critics? 'This is a racist, targeted test' Some supporters of Semenya believe two of the factors may be race and geography. They wonder if the IAAF would have pursued Semenya for nearly a decade if she were a white runner from the global North. "All of these [efforts] seem to coincide with the recent dominance by women from Sub-Saharan Africa in certain track and field events, and that wasn't the case before," says Katrina Karkazis, a Stanford University bioethicist who was involved in the Chand case and has written extensively about intersex issues. "That is one way this is racialized. Who is winning those events? Who has won historically?" University of Toronto professor Bruce Kidd is a longtime member of the Olympic movement and was also involved in the Chand case. "They [the IAAF] have identified seven events where they think there is a correlation [between testosterone levels and performance]. Two of them are the pole vault and hammer throw and they have not made them part of this new rule, and those are events that are dominated by white women," Kidd points out. "They have targeted the mile, an event that is currently dominated by black women. And the mile isn't even part of their study. It's hard not to draw the conclusion this is a racist, targeted test." Semenya's success and physical appearance — she appears more muscular than many of her rivals — have drawn attention and doubt from track officials. (05/16/2018) Views: 2,183 ⚡AMP