Caster Semenya: Praising Your Name

In the 2009 African Junior Championships she won both the 800 m and 1500 m races with the times of 1:56.72 and 4:08.01 respectively. With that race Semenya improved her 800 m personal best by seven seconds in less than nine months, including four seconds in that race alone. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) asked Semenya to undergo a gender test after the win. The IAAF says it was obliged to investigate after she made improvements of 25 seconds at 1500m and eight seconds at 800m the sort of dramatic breakthroughs that usually arouse suspicion of drug use. The IAAF ceased compulsory tests in 1992 but retains the right to test athletes. [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya] Created on September 13, 2009.