{"id":12869,"date":"2012-07-28T01:40:05","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T23:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/07\/olympics-athletics-proud-semenya-feels-no-pressure\/"},"modified":"2012-07-28T01:40:05","modified_gmt":"2012-07-27T23:40:05","slug":"olympics-athletics-proud-semenya-feels-no-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/olympics-athletics-proud-semenya-feels-no-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympics-Athletics-Proud Semenya feels no pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

LONDON, July 27<\/span> (Reuters) – Three years after suffering the
\nindignation of having her gender questioned, South Africa’s
\nCaster Semenya will walk into London’s Olympic stadium for the
\nopening ceremony sporting a broad smile and carrying her
\ncountry’s flag.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2009 world 800 metres champion said she would feel no
\npressure in London having felt the full force of controversy and
\nan unwanted media spotlight since she won gold in Berlin.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“For me, it’s a dream come true, qualifying for the
\nOlympics, it was a huge step for me,” Semenya, 21, told Reuters
\non Friday, hours before the Games opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Semenya’s emphatic victory in Berlin raised questions about
\nher gender and started a verification process that still clouds
\nher achievement.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

A shy girl from a rural village, Semenya said her first
\nOlympics were no more stressful than other championships.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Olympics are the same as world champs, as Diamond
\nLeagues…it is a medal for concentration and dedication. For me
\nit’s the same thing.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t have a lot of pressure because I’ve been competing
\nfor so long.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Semenya has struggled for form this season but she is hoping
\nto draw inspiration from former South African president Nelson
\nMandela.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“He means a lot to me. He made me believe that I can do
\nthis, through thick and thin. Because when I met him he just
\ntold me to believe I can do it, (you) just have to be strong,
\nthat’s all.”<\/p>\n

(Writing by Justin Palmer, editing by Clare Fallon)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\u00a9 Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) – Three years after suffering the indignation of having her gender questioned, South Africa’s Caster Semenya will walk into London’s Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony sporting a broad smile and carrying her country’s flag. The 2009 world 800 metres champion said she would feel no pressure in London having felt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-12869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}