Two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya is expected to complete 50 hours of community service following her arrest on a charge of reckless driving, reports say.
News24 quoted the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Wednesday as saying the 30-year-old appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court last week.
“She (Semenya) pleaded guilty to the charge. After she was assessed, a suitable diversion programme meant to address the offence was the sentence the court has given, which is 50 hours of community service,” NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.
Semenya was reportedly nabbed on the N14 highway, in Centurion, but Mahanjana said she was not held in custody. Instead – as is common practice in cases involving more minor offences – she was granted bail of R500 at the Wierdabrug Police Station and summoned to appear in court, The Citizen reported.
Hormone-suppressing drugs
The report said Semenya’s attorney, Greg Nott declined to comment on the matter.
The case was postponed to August 26 for a report from the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro), according to Times Live.
Semenya emerged victorious at the South African Track and Field Championships in Pretoria last month, recording 15mins 52sec – 42sec shy of the Olympic-qualifying standard of 15:10.
The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled for July 23 to August 8 and Semenya will be looking to qualify for the 5 000m after controversial laws excluded her from her favoured 800m.
Under the current World Athletic Regulations, Semenya will not be able to compete in her preferred 800m and 1 500m disciplines unless she takes hormone-suppressing drugs to lower her natural levels of testosterone.
She is appealing the regulations at the European Court of Human Rights.
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Picture: Twitter