Book cover of The Race to Be Myself: A Memoir

Book description

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…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Race to Be Myself as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love watching Caster Semenya run. The South African middle-distance runner who powered her way to two Olympic gold medals and three World Championships in the women’s 800-meter run is not only an icon on the track but off it, too.

In this book, she catalogs the (sometimes cruel, mean-spirited) efforts of naysayers, rendering them impotent beneath the force and grace of her determination and pride. Deemed suspiciously masculine by casual fans and sports administrators alike, Semenya explains how she transcended the unfounded hate and created a life rooted in love. Discipline is freedom, she asserts. In our perilous political…

From Jules' list on think deeply about the Olympics.

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