It is the run that the media has waited for, and they have been made to dutifully stand by until the penultimate day of the Rio Olympics. South Africa’s Caster Semenya will start the 800m women’s final (2:15am SA time, Sunday morning) as an overwhelming favourite, and finally get a chance to have her say, when the race is done.
Or, perhaps, she won’t. Who knows. The 2012 silver medallist has sparked thousands of stories without saying a single word in the press, save for a short statement via the South African team’s media liaison after the heats and semi-finals.
Semenya cruised through both races, confirming her standing as the best 800m runner this year. For many, the only question ahead of the final is by how much, and not will she win?
Amidst all of that, the question about gender will inevitably rear its insensitive head again. Someone will put their hand up and try to provoke a reaction out of the 25 year-old, knowing that it may well be the last chance they get.
The expectation is that the IAAF, led by the media-hungry Sebastian Coe, will revisit the testosterone level-testing once the Olympics are done, and that Semenya may find herself being the unwilling face of one of the most awkward questions in sport.
The print assault on her being has been somewhat subdued so far, but that is only because they have been distracted by other headline acts at the Olympics. The Rio Games’ final Saturday night’s programme has her race as one of the main features, and the scrutiny is inevitable.
Amidst the sensationalism, there does appear to be level heads, though. The New York Times delivered a weighty, considerate piece on the matter, a far cry from the callous comments made by Paula Radcliffe four year ago, when she said a race with Semenya in it was ‘no longer a sport’.
On some level, such dismissive, demeaning discussion about her must prick at Semenya. There is a fear that she could retire from competition after this, and save herself the humiliation of being the focal point of a debate that has no physiological basis, but is driven by a hunger for a headline, regardless of the hurt it causes to individuals.
Semenya’s competition rivals in the final have also had a word, guarded though it was. Ajee Wilson of the United States insisted that the issue needed to be revisited.
“At this point, what I think doesn’t really matter. We’re all on the track. Whoever’s on there is racing,” she swiped.
It is easy to forget that Caster Semenya has not bent any rules. She didn’t make them, either, yet she is being made to feel as if her medal in waiting may well be the most awkward in Olympic history.
Some say that is borders on bullying, this tarnishing of the strides that she has made. No one yet knows what she really makes of all this, but Sunday morning we may finally get the answer.
The form book says Semenya should win, comfortably so, thanks to her power down the home stretch. But, for many, the real story will only unravel in the bowels of the Stadio Olimpico, when she finally looks the media in the eye, and lets them know what has been on her mind for the last few weeks and, perhaps, years.
If her anticipated victory gets lost in the toxic aftermath, that would be a terrific shame, because the chance to be Olympic champion, and soak in the ovation, may only come once in a career.
The world waits for her words Sunday, and then for the words that will build on that, from every media house in the world. It is the most anticipated press conference of the Games.
But, lest we forget, there is a massive final before all of that madness.
Independent Media