Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Caster Semenya's season could be over after she was omitted from Sascoc’s Operation Excellence Programme (Opex).
It came as a big shock to the 22-year-old athlete when her name was not on the Opex list named last week. The programme will provide funding to top athletes in South Africa.
Sascoc claimed that the former world 800m champion did not qualify for the programme as she was not training and it was uncertain whether she would compete this year.
Semenya's coach, Maria Mutola, said they may now have to suspend her season indefinitely.
“We might have to call off the season," Mutola told the IOL Sport website.
"I think that her well-being comes first. So in the next coming weeks we will sit down and make a decision. We have to consider, if she can run good times. It would be unfair to expect her to run with some of the best athletes in the country while she’s not 100 percent.
“As far as her progress is concerned, we are a little bit behind, and we just have to see how things go.”
Mutola also denied Sascoc's claims that Semenya was not training. She said her athlete has been active and has been training at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre for months now.
“She trains three times a week with me. So I don’t understand what they mean by that. I think I am content with her progress especially considering her injury problems,” said Mutola, a former 800m Olympic champion.
Mutola said Sascoc should have handled the issue in a more professional manner.
“She is disappointed about the way in which they made the announcement and it all came out. We had to hear it through the media. They didn’t call to speak with her and hear her side."
It came as a big shock to the 22-year-old athlete when her name was not on the Opex list named last week. The programme will provide funding to top athletes in South Africa.
Sascoc claimed that the former world 800m champion did not qualify for the programme as she was not training and it was uncertain whether she would compete this year.
Semenya's coach, Maria Mutola, said they may now have to suspend her season indefinitely.
“We might have to call off the season," Mutola told the IOL Sport website.
"I think that her well-being comes first. So in the next coming weeks we will sit down and make a decision. We have to consider, if she can run good times. It would be unfair to expect her to run with some of the best athletes in the country while she’s not 100 percent.
“As far as her progress is concerned, we are a little bit behind, and we just have to see how things go.”
Mutola also denied Sascoc's claims that Semenya was not training. She said her athlete has been active and has been training at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre for months now.
“She trains three times a week with me. So I don’t understand what they mean by that. I think I am content with her progress especially considering her injury problems,” said Mutola, a former 800m Olympic champion.
Mutola said Sascoc should have handled the issue in a more professional manner.
“She is disappointed about the way in which they made the announcement and it all came out. We had to hear it through the media. They didn’t call to speak with her and hear her side."
