'I'm fulfilled' - Caster Semenya reflects on new life as coach & mentor as Xaba and Masai AC fly high in 2024
While she is not without her detractors, there can be no argument about Caster Semenya's positive impact on South African athletics. If not through her exploits on the track which inspired many young athletes, then it must be through her tireless work as a mentor, coach and club administrator working to create opportunities for the scores of otherwise forgotten township and rural youth athletes around the country. Through the club she founded Masai Athletic Club, Semenya has created a platform for Central Gauteng, Gauteng North and Limpopo runners and walkers to express their talent.
"It's worth it because you invest your time, knowledge and experience. So that's why we say we when it comes to grassroots development it's about handing over the baton to them. You take time away from your family to try and educate them about how this business works and you see results it's fulfilling. It's important for someone of my magnitude who achieved something to plough back to the community. We are not done. We'll keep working," she told #TheTopRunner.
Reflecting on the years of endless court battles against the then IAAF, which is today World Athletics for the right to compete as a woman, the double Olympic 800m champion says she wouldn’t change a thing. Semenya says the gender tests, public ridicule and sometimes outright persecution were all important parts of her journey which have made her a better advocate not only for similar DSD athletes, but also for all runners who find themselves failed by the very safeguarding systems introduced to protect the dignity of all participants in the world's most popular and inclusive sport.
"I made 800m, it did not make me. I was chosen to be where I am today. God gave me that opportunity and I won world championships and Olympics - what more do I want? When you talk about 800m you can't remove my name. If you're the best in the world, if you're the best that has ever done it, then what is there to miss? I've done what I could to be the best that I can be and I've got no score to settle with anyone. I'm happy with where I am. I'm happy with what I've achieved. "
And because of her commitment to young athletes in particular, the coach of Glenrose Xaba, supported by her partner Violet Semenya, has seen her club grow. Last week the club celebrated it’s annual awards to recognise the efforts of their future champions, and then on Saturday 30 November specialist race walking coach Mpho Mphelane walked away with the Central Gauteng Athletics Development Coach of The Year Award for her work unearthing young walkers in Soweto. Some of those athletes will represent the red and yellow province at the Athletics South Africa Sub Youth Championships in Bloemfontein this weekend.
After leading Glenrose Xaba to a magical 2024 season during which she broke both the SA 10km and 42km records, Semenya says she sleeps well at night confident in the knowledge that she has made her contribution to the country of her birth.
"The question is who am I building to be the next great athlete? How long is it going to take me? Those are the questions that I now ask myself. We have done it in long distance running. Now my tasks is more into 800m and 1500m. On that one I have unfinished business. I'm just waiting for them to do better than I did. I'm here to help those who need me to help them. Coaching is beautiful."
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