×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

'God made me the way I am' - Semenya's fighting spirit after IAAF gender rules

South Africa's Caster Semenya (C) competes in the athletics women's 800m final during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast on April 13, 2018.
South Africa's Caster Semenya (C) competes in the athletics women's 800m final during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast on April 13, 2018.
Image: Adrian DENNIS / AFP

Caster Semenya has fired back at her critics after new regulations were released that compel women athletes with high levels of naturally occurring testosterone to take medication to reduce them.

The champion athlete took to Twitter and posted a series of defiant quotes after the latest move by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to introduce new eligibility regulations for females with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD).

Meanwhile‚ Professor Steve Cornelius has resigned as a member of the IAAF Disciplinary Tribunal in protest against the new rule.

According to Team South Africa‚ Cornelius penned a letter to the president of the IAAF‚ citing his reasons for stepping down.

“On deep moral grounds‚ I cannot see myself part of a system in which I may be called upon to apply regulations which I deem to be fundamentally flawed and most likely unlawful in various jurisdictions around the globe‚” Cornelius said in the letter.

“It would also be unethical for me to devote time and energy to expose the warped ideology behind the new regulations while serving on the Disciplinary Tribunal.

“It was at first an honour to be appointed to the IAAF Tribunal‚ but sadly I cannot‚ with good conscience‚ continue to associate myself with an organisation which insists on ostracising specific individuals‚ all of them female‚ for no reason other than being what they are born to be.

“The adoption of the new eligibility regulations for female classification is based on the same kind of ideology that has led to some of the worse injustices and atrocities in the history of our planet.”

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.