South Africa's runner Caster Semenya, current 800-meter Olympic gold medalist and world champion, arrives for the first day of her hearing at the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. Picture: Laurent Gillieron / Keystone via AP
Athlete Caster Semenya has shared a quote on her social media accounts following the CAS ruling against her on the IAAF testosterone rules on Wednesday.
“Sometimes it’s better to react with no reaction,” wrote Semenya, though South Africans have chosen to ignore her advice and rally behind her on social media. Messages of support have been pouring in for Semenya and she has been trending since.
In a statement, Minister of Sport and Recreation Tokozile Xasa thanked South Africans for rallying behind Semenya.
“The kind of support that Semenya received among South Africans was heartwarming, it was a true South African spirit of Ubuntu.”
She, however, admitted that the judgment against Semenya was “disappointing”, adding that she would study it and determine a way forward.
“Naturally we are disappointed with the judgment, however, we have directed ASA to request a copy of the full judgment. We will study the judgment, consider it and determine a way forward. As the South African government we have always maintained that these regulations trample on the human rights and dignity of Caster Semenya and other women athletes. We will comment further after studying the full judgment.”
These were some of the messages of support from South Africans:
#HandsOffCaster trends on Twitter
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