“Trust in the process, no matter how slow it is. If you stick to your plans it will eventually come all right. Forget the noise out there and press mute.”
This is the message shared by South African double Olympic 800 metres champion Caster Semenya on Tuesday after it was announced that the African championships had been cancelled.
The championships were cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Competing in the championships would have given gold medallist Semenya an opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games next month.
Athletics SA (ASA) said on Tuesday it has identified eight competitions across five provinces before the June 29 qualifying window ends. Semenya and other local hopefuls will have to compete in one of these alternatives to stand a chance to qualify for the Games.
TimesLIVE reported that Semenya had planned to qualify in the 5‚000m at the continental competition in Lagos and only do a 3‚000m locally before heading out of the country.
Semenya is challenging a 2019 rule change by governing body World Athletics (WA) that sees her barred from competing in events between 400m and a mile without taking testosterone-reducing drugs.
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