Caster Semenya has not given up on her career, her wife confirms

It remains unclear how she might find her way back to the track, after being sidelined by new international rules earlier this year, but three-time world champion Caster Semenya might not be hanging up her spikes just yet, her partner has revealed.

Violet Raseboya, a former elite distance runner, spoke on the sidelines of the Spar Grand Prix 10km race in Durban at the weekend, where one of the athletes in her training group (Glenrose Xaba) finished third.

‘Not retired’

Asked about her wife’s potential return to the track, Raseboya was reluctant to reveal too much, but she insisted Semenya had not given up on her athletics career.

“I’m very protective of my partner and you won’t get that answer from me. You will get it from her when you see her,” said Raseboya, who coaches a group of 16 track and road runners with Semenya.

“But don’t think that she has retired. That’s the only thing I can tell you.”

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Semenya, a two-time Olympic 800m champion, hasn’t competed since she earned silver medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m finals at the Gauteng North provincial track and field championships in Pretoria in March.

Though she was in the 10,000m entry list and turned up at the SA Senior Championships in Potchefstroom, which was the day before her enforced suspension from the track, she withdrew before the race without an explanation.

New rules

While previous rules allowed her to compete against women without restrictions outside the range of distances between 400m and the mile (1,609m), the new World Athletics ruling enforced in April requires athletes with ‘differences of sexual development’ to take hormone suppressants in order to participate in any track and field discipline.

Semenya has previously stated that she is unwilling to take measures to reduce her natural testosterone levels, and the 32-year-old athlete will not compete in other categories after being sidelined from women’s events.

While all her previous appeals in court have ultimately failed, however, she has repeatedly insisted that she will not go down without a fight, and a potential return to court remains a possibility.

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