POSTED: September 7th 2009
NewsUpdate
Semenya's coach quits ASA in new twist to gender test storm
KEIR RADNEDGE / Sports Features Communications
LONDON/PRETORIA: Wilfred Daniels, coach to controversial South African athlete Caster Semenya, has quit as a national coach amid the continuing investigation into her gender – an issue which erupted at the recent World Championships in Berlin.
The 18-year-old Semenya was asked to submit to a gender test just after she had celebrated her gold-medal victory in the women’s 800m.
A fax sent to a wrong destination was blamed by the international federation, the IAAF, for bringing the gender issue to media attention. However Athletics South Africa was criticised for not having foreseen the potential problems after Semenya’s remarkable improvement in race times earlier this summer.
Daniels appeared to echo that criticism when he said he was resigning his post with ASA because Semenya. He regretted not protecting her from all the media attention which ASA should have predicted.
“I'm so sorry for the part I played," added Daniels. "It was because of my negligence she went through all that."
IAAF concerns
Daniels said that ASA had been aware of IAAF's concerns about Semenya after her gold medal success at the African Junior Championships in Mauritius.
He said that in July the ASA complied with an IAAF request and gave Semenya an initial gender test. However, she had been tricked into taking it because she had been led to believe it was a standard drug test.
Daniels added: “She was asked to go to a clinic in Pretoria to undergo some of these tests but the tests were not explained properly. According to the source I spoke to, it was actually some kind of gender verification test."
He said he had apologised personally to Semenya and added: “I had to leave. I just looked at myself and asked if I liked what I saw? I asked if I could really enjoy my life knowing what I know - my conscience was too great. I am not happy. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody because I am part of the collective responsibility and blame."
Keywords · Semenya · IAAF · World Athletics Championships · Berlin · Daniels · Athletics South Africa · ASA
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
All original materials contained in this section are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Sports Features Communications, Inc the owner of that content. It is prohibited to alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
