South Africa Welcomes Home Caster Semenya
Caster Semenya was welcomed back to her home town last week, to celebration and dancing. After her long time away competing and staying in luxury hotels, South Africa and her people were there to welcome home their champion. Questions about her gender have plagued the track star for days, but once she stood in her home town, all of that tension seemed to melt away. Children from her town mobbed her, in the South African village of Ga Masehlong, this is a village wherein most houses do not have plumbing or electricity.
She had just finished running and winning the eight hundred meter race for the Women’s Championship in Germany. This is where the officials for the competition announced that Semenya should be tested, due to her muscle mass, her deep voice and the fact that her running times are so fast. In her small town however, which sits about one hundred and eighty miles outside of Johannesburg, neighbors and family members could not believe at just how much she had accomplished in the past few months.
They greeted her with a live band, and a tent was set up in her father’s yard for the celebrations. The children from her old school rushed to join in the festivities, one little girl stating that she wants to run like Semenya when she grows up. When Semenya emerged from her van, the band played, and about three hundred students were all dressed in blue. Speeches and songs were sung for close to two hours. She was given welcoming home presents, such as a laptop computer, and scholarship money to help her further her education. And a stadium nearby the town will be renamed after her. She expressed her gratitude to her town and to the officials, and they just stated that to celebrate in Semenya’s achievements was like celebrating the achievements of the entire village.
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