POSTED: April 6th 2010
NewsUpdate
Semenya will wait for IAAF verdict before returning to the track . . . if she can
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications
JOHANNESBURG, Apr 06: Caster Semenya has stepped back from her previous insistence on a named-and-dated track return and will wait for the much-delayed outcome of her gender-test 'trial.'
Semenya, the women's 800m world champion from Berlin last year, said recently that she intended to return to competition in Zaragoza, Spain, on June 24. Athletics South Africa then asked her to await the conclusion of the process launched by the International Association of Athletics Federations after her Berlin success.
Last week Semenya was barred by ASA from going ahead with her intention of competing in a local meet in Stellenbosch. That was when she agreed, reluctantly, to wait on the IAAF whose process had been complicated by problems within ASA.
Jeffrey Kessler, of lawyers Dewey & LeBoeuf, said: "Ms Semenya has done her utmost to cooperate with the IAAF to try to resolve this matter without resorting to formal proceedings but believes she is entitled to a definite schedule for a resolution of this matter so her basic rights and dignity are respected.
"Caster has every right to compete in IAAF events. The current open-ended situation, with her status and eligibility the subject of constant speculation in the media, is causing great harm and distress, both to Caster and to all who believe in fair play in the sporting world.
"We are looking forward to resolving this situation, and Caster returning to competition, in June."
Keywords · IAAF · Semenya · Athletics South Africa
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