‘I AM A WOMAN AND I AM FAST’

Caster Semenya to Fight New Testosterone Rule in Court

“I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast.”

South African track runner Caster Semenya announced Monday she is going to challenge a ruling in April by the International Association of Athletics Federation that said that come November, women who identified as female with higher than “normal” testosterone levels must either reduce their testosterone levels or compete with—and as—men. According to a report by The New York Times, Semenya called the ruling “discriminatory, irrational, unjustifiable” in a statement at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport. “I don’t like talking about this new rule,” she reportedly said. “I just want to run naturally, the way I was born. It is not fair that I am told I must change. It is not fair that people question who I am.” She ended her statement: “I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast.”