This archive report was first published on 12 September 2019.
South African athlete Caster Semenya will be officially awarded her gold medal from the 2011 world athletics championships at the 2019 edition in Doha, Qatar, on September 27.
However, Semenya will not be present to receive the medal personally, as she has withdrawn from the championships due to her ongoing appeal against the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) testosterone regulations.
The regulations, which were introduced in 2018, require XY chromosome athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) to take medication to reduce their testosterone levels in order to compete in distances from 400m to a mile.
Semenya has refused to comply with these regulations, citing concerns about their impact on her health and well-being.
As a result, she has been forced to withdraw from the championships, despite her hopes of defending her 2017 world championship title.
Despite her absence, Semenya will still be recognized as the rightful winner of the gold medal, which was originally awarded to Russian athlete Mariya Savinova, who was later disqualified for doping violations.
‘Congratulations to our athletes for their achievements and for being honoured as clean athletes,’ said Athletics South Africa president Aleck Skhosana in a media statement.
‘We are happy that the IAAF now offers a chance to the rightful winners a podium celebration in front of a capacity stadium which the cheats denied them at the original competition.’
