Runner Caster Semenya Looks a Lot More Feminine Than She Did in 2009
Rebecca Greenfield
Jun 12, 2012
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/06/runner-caster-semenya-looks-lot-more-feminine-she-did-2009/53446/Caster Semenya, the South African athlete whose masculine look and testosterone levels caused a stir back in 2009, when she won an 800-meter world championship, has gotten more feminine looking over the last few years—because she has to. Due to recent rule changes by the International Association of Athletics Federations,
women who want to compete must have certain testosterone levels, which do not exceed the male threshold, reports The Toronto Star's Stephanie Findlay. "If it does, she must have surgery or receive hormone therapy prescribed by an expert IAAF medical panel and submit to regular monitoring," explains Findlay. And, per Danie Cornelius, a track and field manager, Semenya is one of those athletes undergoing treatment. "I know she gets treatment. What the treatment entails, I can't give the details," he told Findlay. As the photo above shows, with Semenya in 2009 on the left and her winning a recent race on the right, whatever the treatment entails, it has had a notable effect on Semenya's appearance.
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Since then, either due to criticism or because of the new regulations or some other factors, Semenya no longer qualifies as "breathtakingly butch." Findlay describes her as feminine. "She wears a tight turquoise polo over her fit, feminine body. Relaxed, poised and, it must be said, pretty, the young woman with an irresistible smile is almost unrecognizable from photographs taken during the height of the controversy," she writes. And, indeed, her face has gotten rounder, hair longer and figure curvier, as you can see below.
