Olympian who was forced to take gender tests marries her girlfriend
An Olympic sprinter who had been forced to take gender tests has married her long-term girlfriend.
Caster Semenya wed her long-term partner Violet Raseboya in a stunning ceremony in their native South Africa.
The athlete, who won a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics, shared snaps of the special day on Instagram.
The celebration came after a ceremony last year, in which Semenya reportedly paid her bride’s family a dowry, of £1,500, according to the Daily Mail.
Semenya also celebrated her 26th birthday on her wedding day.
The star Olympian was previously caught up on a controversy about her gender identity.
Rumours surfaced that she was intersex, something she hasn’t commented on.
Authorities threatened to take back her London 2012 silver medal if it were found that she isn’t a woman.
It was then decided she would be forced to take gender tests to prove she was a woman.
A group of doctors including an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, as well as gender experts performed a testing procedure.
Authorities said that if the athlete was always told she was a woman but is not then she would not necessarily have cheated.
It was later agreed that the medal wouldn’t be taken away regardless of the result.
She went on to do one better, and take the women’s 800m gold in 2016.
She appeared on the cover of You Magazine with a makeover by the magazine’s stylists, following the controversy.
“I didn’t do this to prove a point but rather to have fun”, Semenya told the magazine.
“I don’t give a damn what people say about me.
“I like me the way I am and who cares what other people say?”
