After she said on Thursday that she had been denied the right to participate in the Diamond League meetings, to be held Sunday in Morocco, South African athlete Mokagadi Caster Semenya announced that she received a «late» invitation, Friday, by the event's organizers. The 800m Olympic Champion's agent Jukka Harkonen told Reuters, Friday, that despite being invited, Semenya will not attend the sports event. He explained that getting to Rabat would be impossible for the athlete who is currently in South Africa. «She's not running», he said, stressing that «she was invited today (Friday) but that was too late». The same thing was confirmed earlier in Friday by a source close to the event's organizers, who told Yabiladi that Semenya «declined the invitation» due to «sports issues». The same source said that the Morocco race organizer Alain Blondel «was happy to confirm» that the athlete was sent an invitation. However, the same source did not reveal at the time when the invitation was sent. The same source indicated that Semenya was invited after organizers «took into account the decision of a Swiss court» regarding her ability to run. Earlier in June, a Swiss court ordered the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which wanted to impose its new rules on the 800m Olympic champion, to let Semenya compete pending her appeal, BBC said. The South African athlete is appealing against IAAF's rules that rely on testosterone levels of female runners. Following the court's decision, the female runner realized that she was not invited to the race, expected to take place in the Kingdom. She urged the IAAF to«ensure its member federations comply with the law and the Supreme Court's orders», her lawyers told BBC. Article modifié le 2019/06/15 à 00h08
