The world was horrified because this was our daughter, our sister, our niece, our neighbour...who was being so humiliated! It was truly disgusting.

Accordingly, perhaps understandingly so, a lesser human being would have walked away from it all. Not our Caster! Not this brave heroine of ours from the dusty fields of Matjileng. She picked herself up, dusted herself off and faced her tormentors- on the biggest stage and delivered!

Sure she came second but that was just down to wrong tactics on the night. Psychologically though she had long vanquished her denigrators when she ran the final.  

Ironically, in coming second, she has dispelled the myth that no-one ever remembers anyone who come second; thing is in her case the question is: who won the 800m race, because we all know who came second?!

Caster is truly an inspiration! The legacy of her performance will have an enduring impact- way beyond the olympic stadium. She has, single-handedly, defeated that biggest foe of human advancement- FEAR!

She has quite literally broken the psychological barrier, akin to breaking the proverbial sound barrier! In my book, she is the one athlete who stood out at the 2012 Olympics, brilliant performances by Le Clos, Van der Burgh et al notwithstanding. Her performance is worthy of all the gold beneath the belly of Sekhukhune mountains put together!