Villagers welcomed home world track champion Caster Semenya on Friday, refusing to let questions about her gender dampen their celebration amid the mudwalled, thatch-roofed homes of her poor village in northern South Africa.
The tensions of the previous 10 days seemed to melt away for the 18-year-old as she broke into a dance alongside a house in Ga-Masehlong, where many live without electricity or indoor plumbing. Children mobbed her.
Hours before Semenya won the 800m women’s world championship in Germany on Aug. 19, international track officials announced that gender tests had been initiated, and results are still awaited.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Semenya’s muscular build, husky voice and stunning times had led some to question whether she should be competing in women’s events.
Relatives and neighbors in Ga-Masehlong marveled at what she has achieved since leaving the village, located 300km north of Johannesburg.
Attlee Maponyane, president of the provincial track and field authority, looked at the flat scrubland surrounded Ga-Masehlong and marveled: “Did you see where Caster trained?”
As a brass band struck up a tune, children from the primary school Semenya once attended raced down a dirt road to join in the celebrations in a tent set up in her father’s packed-dirt yard.
Julia Ngoepe, 12, said she wanted to be a champion one day too.
“First, I have to go to school, and run a lot, so that I can be like her,” she said.
Authorities pulled out all the stops in welcoming their star home.
About 300 students formed a blue-uniformed honor guard when Semenya arrived in a van escorted by police cars, their sirens nearly drowned out by the band and the cheering children.
Semenya, dressed in a black T-shirt and jacket and dark jeans, emerged from the van holding her grandmother’s hand. Two hours of speeches and songs followed. At one point, her seven-month-old niece Gauta was passed to her, and she sat at the head table cuddling the child on her lap.
Local entrepreneurs gave her a laptop and promised to help fund her education. Municipal officials say a nearby stadium will be renamed for her.
Children stopped playing to listen as their hero made brief remarks toward the end of the ceremony.
“I don’t know what to say,” Semenya said. “But I’m very happy. Thank you.”
Motalane Monakedi, mayor of the region that includes Ga-Maselong, said he hoped the “gifts and the love” would inspire Semenya to even greater success.
“We need to celebrate her achievements, especially as she is one of our own,” he said. “She grew up in these villages where she had to walk many kilometers to fetch wood and to fetch water. Still, she managed to rise against these odds. Nothing can stop you if you are determined — and you work very, very hard.”
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946