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.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS