HER outfit is all business – black pants, white shirt, smart jacket, shiny brogues. It’s Mokgadi Caster Semenya as the world has come to know her: no fuss, no-nonsense, confident, and cool.
The Caster who meets us today is also quick to laugh and eager to talk, a woman who’s been through so much but is content with where she is in the world.
She may have been banned from competing in the races she dominated for so long but she’s in a good space – happily married, a devoted mother, an athlete determined to give back to the sport that’s made her so successful.
But the reason she’s here today isn’t because of athletics – it’s because her eagerly anticipated memoir, The Race to Be Myself, is about to be released.
She’s excited about the book, the 32-year-old running sensation says, chatting to us at Kream restaurant in Brooklyn, not far from the University of Pretoria, where she and her wife, Violet Raseboya, coach aspiring young athletes.
And sport dominates her memoir, tracing her life from her childhood in Ga-Masehlong village in Limpopo through to her trailblazing battle to compete on her own terms.
There’s also a chapter that unpacks her decision to do a photoshoot with YOU in 2009 when she’d just started making waves internationally.
The images of Caster – in metallic tights, shimmering tops, dresses and stilettos, her cornrows covered by a curly wig and her face in full makeup – caused a stir.
Critics claimed she’d been coerced into presenting an inauthentic feminized version of herself but Caster says that’s far from the truth.
This story is from the 2 November 2023 edition of YOU South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the 2 November 2023 edition of YOU South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
'I'M BACK!'
ACK!’ Scandal after scandal hits Jacob Zuma, yet nothing ever brings him down. Now he’s plotting his return to parliament and he’s hinted he has his heart set on another term as president
A BRAIN YOU CAN COUNT ON
Meet Aaryan Shukla, the 13-year-old from India whos just been crowned the worlds fastest human calculator
FUN WHILE IT LASTED
It's all over for oddball couple Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher
THE TEEN MACHINE!
Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo has set the footballing world alight with his dazzling displays
A BETTER LIFE FOR ELIJAH
A rare condition means this little boy can't bend his arms and legs, but his parents are doing everything they can to give him a normal life
A DOCTOR'S JOURNEY
He chose to do one of the toughest jobs in medicine: looking after children who were dying. In this moving extract from his memoir, Cape Town paediatrician Alastair McAlpine reveals how, with wisdom and humour, sick kids taught him crucial lessons that changed his approach to life
'SA WILL ALWAYS BE PART OF ME'
Cindy Nell-Roberts is starting a new lite Down Under with her family. She tells YOU about the chaotic but happy p ansliepent why shes missing home
HOW TO SPOT A NARCISSIST
They often look like the most confident person in the room, but narcissists are insecure and desperate for validation, says a new book
DEFIANT TO THE END
He went from star athlete to Hollywood hero and ended up a reviled criminal but OJ Simpson remained unapologetic
BRING IT ON TAMMY!
Peet and Mel Viljoen arent going to let threats deter them from their fabulous life