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Caster Semenya responds to comments made by IAAF President Sebastian Coe

Caster Semenya has two Olympic gold medals and three world titles
Image: Caster Semenya has two Olympic gold medals and three world titles

Double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya says she is no threat to women's sport in response to comments from Sebastian Coe.

The South African said comments made by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Coe have reopened old wounds.

Semenya is awaiting a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) verdict on her appeal against an IAAF regulation that says female athletes classed as having differences in sexual development (DSDs) gain an unfair advantage due to their higher testosterone levels, though only in races between 400 and 1,000m.

Under the new rules, athletes classed as having DSDs must reduce their blood testosterone level to below five nmol/L for a continuous period of six months before they can compete. They must then maintain it below that level continuously.

The Court had been due to announce its decision on Tuesday but has postponed it until late April.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe was at the landmark hearing of the South African 800m Olympic champion
Image: IAAF president Sebastian Coe does not believe Semenya should be allowed to compete in women's events

Coe told Australia's Daily Telegraph at the weekend: "The reason we have gender classification is because if you didn't then no woman would ever win another title or another medal or break another record in our sport."

In response Semenya, in a statement through her lawyers, said: "The scars Ms Semenya has developed over the past decade run deep.

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"Reading the comments of Mr. Coe this weekend opened those old wounds and the reference by the Daily Telegraph (Australia) to 'the muscle-packed Semenya' is just the latest illustration of how the issues have been distorted by innuendo."

The statement continued: "Mr. Coe is wrong to think Ms Semenya is a threat to women's sport," calling her a "heroine" and "inspirational role model" to young girls.

Caster Semenya of South Africa celebrates as she wins gold in the Women's 800 metres final during athletics on day nine of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium on April 13, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Image: Semenya celebrates as she wins gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Semenya also sought to differentiate her case from those of transgender athletes who were formerly male but have now entered the female sporting arena.

"Ms Semenya is a woman. There is no debate or question about this and the IAAF does not dispute this," the statement continued.

"She was born a woman, raised a woman, socialised as a woman and has competed as a woman her entire life.

"Mr. Coe may have views about transgender women in sport, but that is a different issue.

"Ms Semenya does not wish to undergo medical intervention to change who she is and how she was born. She wants to compete naturally."

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