CASTER SEMENYA WON’T CONFIRM ENGAGEMENT TO FEMALE ATHLETE

Olympic silver medallist Caster Semenya has refused to confirm or deny claims published in a recent Drum magazine article that she is engaged to female runner Violet Raseboya.

The magazine claims that “the 22-year-old athlete is ‘madly in love’ with 27-year-old fellow athlete Violet Ledile Raseboya. Rumours of their relationship go as far back as 2008 when fellow athletes noticed the two had grown close.”

Drum cites various sources that confirm the news and states that the two have become “very serious” recently.

The article also rubbishes recent claims that the champion athlete is pregnant.

A source is quoted as saying: “Caster is not dating a Bafana Bafana player, nor is she pregnant – that would be ridiculous. She’s with Violet and they’re lesbians.”

The two track stars are said to wear bands on their ring fingers and drive similar BMSs with personalised number plates made up of the abbreviation of their names.

A Facebook photo also shows the couple posing next to a cake with the word “Casvio” on it, said to be an amalgamation of their names, Caster and Violet.

When asked about the magazine article, Semenya told City Press: “I’ve got nothing to do with that story. Go ask Drum magazine because they know much more than I do. I really have nothing to say about that article.”

She added: “Whatever you want me to say about it (the engagement), sorry, you are asking the wrong person.”

Semenya made a splash in 2009 when she won the 800 metres at the Berlin Athletics World Championships and then became the subject of investigations and brutal speculation about her gender and sex.

In July 2010, the International Association of Athletics Federations gave Semenya the all-clear to compete as a woman. She went on to win the silver medal in the 800m at last year’s London Olympic Games.