POSTED: October 26th 2009
NewsUpdate
South African award for Semenya
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications
JOHANNESBURG: Caster Semenya may have been condemned to international sporting isolation by the controversy following world athletics gold medal but she remains a star back home – having been hailed as Pretoria University’s Sportswoman of the Year.
Semenya acknowledged the award with a note of thanks to in which she paid tribute to “everyone who has contributed to my success since joining the University Athletics Club at the beginning of 2009.”
She said her 800m gold medal-winning performance in Berlin in August would not have been possible without the “guidance, support and expertise” of a large group of people, including her coach, Michael Seme.
Semenya also paid tribute to “those political parties and alliances that have been supporting” her since she won the world title “for their unwavering support and friendship” following the gender test controversy which remains unresolved. The IAAF is expected to issue a decision next month after considering all the available data.
Semenya won the university award ahead of Springbok women’s flyhalf Yolanda Meiring and Bridgette Hartley, a bronze medalist in the women’s 1000m final at the canoe sprint world championship in Dartmouth, Canada in August.
Roland Schoeman, who set the world 50m freestyle short course swimming world record (20,30 seconds) at the South African championship in August, was named Sportsman of the Year.
Keywords · Semenya · World Athletic Championships · IAAF · award · University of Pretoria · Seme
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