South African track star Caster Semenya won’t stop fighting for her right to run, just as she is
CASTER SEMENYA WALKS ALONG THE SIDE OF the Stanford University track in late June, stopping to take selfies with her fans, who crowd around a fence to get a glimpse of her. “We love you, Caster!” shouts one onlooker. A guy gives her a thumbs-up. “I can’t believe I’m this close to her,” says a woman who, like Semenya, hails from South Africa. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and triple world champion in the women’s 800 m has just won the prestigious Prefontaine Classic at Stanford, finishing the race in 1 min. 55.70 sec., the fastest 800-m time ever clocked on American soil. “When you’re great,” Semenya tells TIME while enjoying the adoration, “you’re great.”
If the global governing body for track and field had its way, however, the scene at Stanford would be a mirage. Last year, the International Association of
