The story in the OP says that Semenya made the quoted comments in an interview with Netwerk24, which is an Afrikaans news service that operates as an aggregator of the South African press reported and written in Afrikaans.
(For those who aren't familiar with it, Afrikaans is a SA derivative of Dutch that evolved from of the "mother tongue" of the white European "settlers" who began colonizing SA in the 17th century and later went on to institute the racist and barbaric system of white supremacist laws and customs known as apartheid - which was held in place through brutal, often murderous, means from 1948 to the early 1990s.)
The original interview that these cryptic remarks of Semenya's come from apparently has not been released in its entirety in English so far: the link embedded in the article shared in the OP leads to a page in which all the material is in Afrikaans. Therefore, it's impossible for someone who doesn't speak Afrikaans to figure out exactly what Semenya said and in what context, and what the quoted fragments really mean.
If anyone on LRC reads and speaks Afrikaans, a translation of the original interview would be much appreciated!
Until we get the whole story, I'm hesitant to interpret the bits and pieces reported in English so far as meaning Semenya is planning to compete in the 2020 Olympics. All we know at this point is that Semenya has intimated that she hopes to be "at the Olympics" in some capacity that will surprise and please fans in SA.
My guess is Semenya might be planning to go to the upcoming Olympics as an on-air press commentator, a SA sports official or advisor, or as a celebrity rep of longtime sponsor Nike or another outfit.
What event/sport will Caster Semenya be competing in at Tokyo 2020?
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Bobsledding!
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RunRagged wrote:
The story in the OP says that Semenya made the quoted comments in an interview with Netwerk24, which is an Afrikaans news service that operates as an aggregator of the South African press reported and written in Afrikaans.
(For those who aren't familiar with it, Afrikaans is a SA derivative of Dutch that evolved from of the "mother tongue" of the white European "settlers" who began colonizing SA in the 17th century and later went on to institute the racist and barbaric system of white supremacist laws and customs known as apartheid - which was held in place through brutal, often murderous, means from 1948 to the early 1990s.)
The original interview that these cryptic remarks of Semenya's come from apparently has not been released in its entirety in English so far: the link embedded in the article shared in the OP leads to a page in which all the material is in Afrikaans. Therefore, it's impossible for someone who doesn't speak Afrikaans to figure out exactly what Semenya said and in what context, and what the quoted fragments really mean.
If anyone on LRC reads and speaks Afrikaans, a translation of the original interview would be much appreciated!
Until we get the whole story, I'm hesitant to interpret the bits and pieces reported in English so far as meaning Semenya is planning to compete in the 2020 Olympics. All we know at this point is that Semenya has intimated that she hopes to be "at the Olympics" in some capacity that will surprise and please fans in SA.
My guess is Semenya might be planning to go to the upcoming Olympics as an on-air press commentator, a SA sports official or advisor, or as a celebrity rep of longtime sponsor Nike or another outfit.
Right, when Europeans move to Africa and apply their laws, it's colonization and racism. But when millions of Arabs and Africans move to Europe, and take their Sharia law with them, it's diversity and multiculturalism. Thanks for the reminder. Not surprising that you fail to mention the ongoing genocide against whites in South Africa.
I can only see the title of the original article: https://www.netwerk24.com/Sport/Olimpiese-Spele/semenya-beplan-nuwe-roete-na-tokio-20200304
"Semanya beplan nuwe roete na Tokio" means Semanya plans a new route to Tokio.
I will try to translate the full article if someone can post it. -
Heptathlon wrote:
Heptathlon
My guess too. Also 4 x 400
Outside chance in another field event, but doubtful. -
She could have competed in open meets all last year. She hasn’t been competing. I don’t even know if she’s been training. She could be the new Mick Tymmonds. Maybe she’s gonna be doing stunts on YouTube also. Btw Rojo, I asked this many months ago and you deleted my thread. Thanks!
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Whatshesaid wrote:
Heptathlon wrote:
Heptathlon
My guess too. Also 4 x 400
Outside chance in another field event, but doubtful.
The heptathlon has some technical events that require years of training. She would suck at the hurdles, HJ and long jump and probably be below average in the shot put and javelin. -
The Williams tennis gals? One of them makes Castor look puny
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5000 or steeple no doubt. She doesn’t have the speed for the 200. Field events are way too technical. 16:05 at altitude (what altitude?) shows a lot of talent for someone focused on the 800. What are the fastest steeple and 5000 females in RSA? What’s the minimum standard to make it in those events?
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Whatshesaid wrote:
Heptathlon wrote:
Heptathlon
My guess too. Also 4 x 400
Outside chance in another field event, but doubtful.
Forgot about the 4x4. Seems like a no brainer actually....so I admittedly have less than no brain. -
greatest coach in the galaxy wrote:
Whatshesaid wrote:
Heptathlon wrote:
Heptathlon
My guess too. Also 4 x 400
Outside chance in another field event, but doubtful.
Forgot about the 4x4. Seems like a no brainer actually....so I admittedly have less than no brain.
Although the 400 is banned so the 4x4 likely is too right? -
greatest coach in the galaxy wrote:
greatest coach in the galaxy wrote:
Whatshesaid wrote:
Heptathlon wrote:
Heptathlon
My guess too. Also 4 x 400
Outside chance in another field event, but doubtful.
Forgot about the 4x4. Seems like a no brainer actually....so I admittedly have less than no brain.
Although the 400 is banned so the 4x4 likely is too right?
Yeah, she's banned from the 4×400, and Heptathlon as well. -
jonnyjinlondon wrote:
The 3000m steeple or the 200m? Both of her times are not world class right now (24.2 for the 200m; only 9.20s (I think) for the 3000m. However, I think with her 'sandbagging' a 3.5x 1500m many times, she's more suited to the strength required for the 3000m steeple.
Semenya never "sandbagged" a sub 4 1500m. She ran exactly once 3:59.9. I don't know if this was "sandbagging" but doubt it because in the same season (2018) she clearly lost a fast race (Lausanne) with a 4:00.4. She was nowhere as good in the 1500m as in the 800m.
So I guess 200m or something totally different.
She would have huge advantages in heptathlon but I agree with those who said that one should not underestimate the difficulty of hurdles and the field events. -
poiuuu wrote:
Right, when Europeans move to Africa and apply their laws, it's colonization and racism. But when millions of Arabs and Africans move to Europe, and take their Sharia law with them, it's diversity and multiculturalism. Thanks for the reminder. Not surprising that you fail to mention the ongoing genocide against whites in South Africa.
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Huh? Why in a thread about Caster Semenya and the 2020 Olympics would anyone bring up such wholly unrelated topics as Arab imperialism; the mass migration into Europe of Muslims from the ME, Asia and Africa; and Sharia law?
Sorry I committed an apparent faux pas when I "failed to mention" the racist attacks and land appropriation that white farmers in SA are experiencing nowadays. But that doesn't seem to have much to do with the topic at hand.
Speaking of extraneous topics, I also "failed to mention" the widespread violence against black women by black men in SA, as well as the common practice of black men all over the country but especially in rural areas subjecting black lesbians and "sporty girls" to "corrective rape" on a mass scale. Since Semenya has always been sporty, IDs as a lesbian, and is widely hailed as a leading light of the fight for African women's rights, those are topics that could be construed as more germane. But they're still very much off-topic for this particular thread - and for this entire website, LOL.
Given the politics and sloganeering of Semenya and backers, I do think it's worth noting that Semenya curiously chose to reveal this cryptic but apparently significant piece of news to an Afrikaans media outlet. Because, after all, Afrikaans is still widely (albeit erroneously if you know the full history) regarded as the "language of the white oppressors" in SA and elsewhere.
Maybe it's just me, but Semenya sharing this info with the world via an Afrikaans-only news outlet struck me as odd. Much like Elizabeth Warren giving an important scoop to Fox News, or Anjem Choudary in the UK going to Boris Johnson and Rod Liddle at the Spectator with the expectation they'd do a puff piece about Islamism, or an op-ed praising mandatory face veils for women and FGM for girls. -
You think?? The women's 200m is deep, and has a murderers row of top talent:
Here are some 2019 numbers... also keep in mind, everyone comes in top shape for the Games.
Shaunae Miller: 21.74 (2019)
Dina Asher-Smith: 21.88 (2019)
Elaine Thompson: 21.6
Daphne Schippers: 21.6
Allyson Felix: 21.6 (I acknowledge she's probably not going to be in that kind of shape, but still)
She'll have to break 22 to medal. Also, it seems to me this will most likely be the deepest field in Olympic history. Caster has run a few 2s, but has come nowhere close to these women. Her PR in the 400 is 49.62, but the 200 doesn't convert well, given that she's predominantly run 8s and 15s. At BEST, perfect preparation and a TON of speed work gets her to 22.30, in my opinion. -
Maybe she will compete as a man. No one has yet to say this. That will be surprising like she said.
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Seems like the 5,000 is overwhelmingly the most reasonable. She won the 5k at the SA championship last year beating Dominique Scott, who went on to make the WC 5k final, and Caster’s 1500 PB is equal value to 14:38 for 5,000 according to the IAAF. It’s feasible that Semenya could be towed along to a 15:10 and make the South African team at that distance.
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Runfar262 wrote:
Maybe she will compete as a man. No one has yet to say this. That will be surprising like she said.
She'll have to buy a ticket. -
In truth, someone of this strength and athletic ability on the women's side could conceivably dominate many other events, long jump, triple, high jump, 200m, a solid performance at steeple, maybe even a medal contender with the sub 4 1500m. Maybe only a low 24 second 200m now but with work, it could come well down because Semenya ran 49.62 400m! That is medal caliber in the 4, and worth 1221 IAAF points, which is equivalent to 22.16, within range of a possible medal with some improvement:
Women (Outdoor) 200m 22.16 1221
Women (Outdoor) 400m 49.62 1221
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The quote we have at present is only that she is planning on being there, not to medal. So what event can she hit the OQ and be on the SA team? Of course she didn’t even say T&F. SA could stick her on some other sport team as a publicity stunt/“statement”
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I can't imagine Semenya doing any sort of event over hurdles or barriers... it just doesn't seem right.
If this is referring to actually participating in an Olympic event, then I would be surprised if it was on the track.
