The Race to Be Myself
A Memoir
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4.6 • 8 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
“Caster’s story isn’t just a tale of perseverance and poise, it’s a story that makes us all interrogate our humanity and the world we build with our actions every day. An essential read.” —Trevor Noah
World champion runner Caster Semenya offers an empowering account of her extraordinary life and career, and her trailblazing battle to compete on her own terms.
Olympian and World Champion Caster Semenya is finally ready to share the vivid and heartbreaking story of how the world came to know her name. Thrust into the spotlight at just eighteen years old after winning the Berlin World Championships in 2009, Semenya’s win was quickly overshadowed by criticism and speculation about her body, and she became the center of a still-raging firestorm about how gender plays out in sports, our expectations of female athletes, and the right to compete as you are.
Told with captivating speed and candor, The Race to Be Myself is the journey of Semenya’s years as an athlete in the public eye, and her life behind closed doors. From her rural beginnings running free in the dust, to crushing her opponents in record time on the track, to the accusations and falsehoods spread about her in the press, the legal trial she went through in order to compete, and the humiliation she has been forced to endure publicly and privately. This book is a searing testimony for anyone who has been forced to stop doing what they love.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Track star Caster Semenya offers a searing first-person view of her journey as one of the greatest—and most debated—runners of her generation. Semenya burst onto the world stage in 2009 as an 18-year-old rising star in the 800-meter event. Almost immediately, though, Semenya’s looks drew scrutiny from the International Association of Athletics Federations, and she writes in painful detail about the invasive testing she was forced to endure and the harmful medical solutions that were callously offered by the track-and-field governing body. She also explores her thoughts regarding the label “intersex,” the ingrained racism of the sports world, and how the support of her family and wife have held her up. This powerful memoir is a tribute to an Olympic champion who has had to continuously stand up for her human rights.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Semenya recounts her struggles to compete in international track-and-field events in this affecting debut memoir. Semenya was born in South Africa with a genetic condition that caused her to develop both female genitalia and high testosterone levels that gave her "more typically masculine characteristics, such as a deeper voice and fewer curves." Though she'd sometimes been mistaken for a boy growing up, she only learned of her condition in 2009, after she won her first world championship in the 800-meter race as an 18-year-old. Her physical appearance led to questions about whether she was a man, which, in turn, resulted in a battery of tests by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. Semenya was forced to take medication to lower her testosterone levels in order to compete, which had "horrible side effects," and by 2018, the IAAF adopted rules mandating low testosterone caps for eligibility in a handful of Semenya's strongest events, including the 400- and 800-meter races, a decision she challenged in human rights court. Semenya's galvanizing descriptions of being treated unfairly because of the genes she was born with are leavened with descriptions of the loving embrace of her family, especially her wife, Violet Raseboya. This chronicle of supreme resilience will resonate even with non–sports fans.
