AWARD-WINNING author Nokuthula Mazibuko Msimang has penned a book about South African Olympic gold medallist, Caster Semenya.
The book, which is titled Qhawe! Caster Mokgadi Semenya, was announced by the author on World Book Day, and it’s set to hit the bookstores in May.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Nokuthula said the book has been in the works for a while.
"I am excited that the book is finally going to hit the shelves next month. With the book we wanted to tell Caster's story from another perspective as most of us know her as this superstar. So we touched on her childhood, how she grew up, her grandmother who raised her and how she fell in love with sports," she said.
About Caster Semenya
Semenya is a middle-distance runner who’s won many medals at the Olympics.
She’s also an intersex cisgender woman, who was assigned female at birth but with XY chromosomes and naturally elevated testosterone levels.
Due to this, it was announced that she needs to be subjected to sex testing. which led to her withdrawing from international competitions until 2010 when the International Association of Athletics Federations cleared her to return.
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But in 2019, new IAAF rules came into force preventing women such as Semenya from participating in 400m, 800m, and 1 500m events unless they take medication to lower their testosterone levels.
But not backing down, earlier this year in February the athlete’s lawyer announced she’d appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
About the author
Msimang is an award-winning author and director of special projects and fundraising at Paku Books.
In her career she’s written five novellas for young people: In the Fast Lane, A Mozambican Summer, Freedom Song, Spring Offensive and Love Songs for Nheti.
She’s the recipient of the 2003 Bessie Head Fellowship. Her stories are about life’s comic slices, music, healing and family.
