She stands up carefully in high heels, trying to get her balance. “Yo!” she exclaims with a grin. “These shoes are beautiful but I’m not sure how I’m going to walk in them. I’m used to running shoes.”
Then she smiles at the camera. This is a very different CASTER SEMENYA to the one who has been in the news around the world recently. She agreed to do a fashion shoot for YOU - and what a difference it has made.
Gone are the tracksuits and trainers; today the 18-year-old golden girl of athletics is wearing a dress for the first time since Grade 9 and having her hair and make-up professionally done.
Her victory in the women’s 800 m at the World Championships in Berlin last month made her one of the world’s finest middle-distance athletes - and raised controversial questions about her gender.
Caster is far more muscular than the average female athlete. She also has a deep voice, broad shoulders and narrow hips and acknowledges she looks different from other girls.
Her gender has been under scrutiny since she was little. “I see it all as a joke, it doesn’t upset me,” she says. “God made me the way I am and I accept myself. I am who I am and I’m proud of myself.”
But today she’s having fun discovering a new side to herself. “I’d like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance,” she says. “I’d also like to learn to do my own make-up. I’ve never bought my own clothes - my mom buys them for me. But now that I know I can look like this I’d like to dress like this more often.”
- See the stunning five-page fashion shoot and interview with Caster in the latest issue of YOU.
