It could easily be considered the most important race multi-Olympic winner Caster Semenya has ever partaken in – ‘The Race To Be Myself’.
The highly anticipated autobiography has been released this Tuesday. The book tells a story of the gender-based discrimination and dehumanization the athlete faced as well as her life growing up.
Despite all her success on the track, the 800m athlete has had lots of critics questioning her gender due to her male-like appearance and high levels of testosterone.
In an interview with 947, Caster says despite all the criticism from the public, she was never really hurt by the words said about her.
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“I don’t ever think it would hurt you if people were questioning you. The only thing you can portray to them is to make them understand who you are, what you stand for, and the nonsense that you don’t take.
“With me, it came down to how I carry myself, and self-love… The relationship that I have with myself is massive because there is nothing that can shake me.
“You can question me; you can name me. Even Jesus has got names … and people gave me names, and I’m like, ‘Look I’m Caster, I know what I stand for, I know where I’m going, and I’ve got purpose.’”
The two-time Olympic winner says that she had learned to find peace within herself, and that allowed her to eliminate whatever people had to say about her.
“If you look into this book, it tells you how chilled I am and how humbled I am. What I want people to learn is that if you have a relationship with yourself, no words said about you can diminish you.”
Meanwhile, Caster is currently in a court battle with World Athletics and hopes to overturn requirements that female athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) medically reduce their testosterone levels.
Also see: Caster Semenya’s interview with Gayle King on her book
