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The Race to Be Myself: A Memoir

The Race to Be Myself: A Memoir

by Caster Semenya

W. W. Norton & Company ·2023 ·320 pages ·Sports
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
74/99
Top of the Pile

76/99

Critics

Near the Top

72/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

75/99

Rating

77/99

Volume

82/99

Rating

63/99

Volume

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About This Book

World champion runner Caster Semenya offers an empowering account of her extraordinary life and career, and her trailblazing battle to compete on her own terms. 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 speculation about her body, and she became the center of a still-raging firestorm about how gender plays out in sports, our expectations of female athletes, and the right to compete as you are. Told with captivating speed and candor, The Race to Be Myself is the journey of Semenya's years as an athlete in the public eye, and her life behind closed doors. From her rural beginnings running free in the dust, to crushing her opponents in record time on the track, to the accusations and falsehoods spread about her in the press, the legal trial she went through in order to compete, and the humiliation she has been forced to endure publicly and privately. This book is a searing testimony for anyone who has been forced to stop doing what they love.


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Reviews

"Her voice is clear and strong ..."

Rick Broadbent· The Times (UK) Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"This chronicle of supreme resilience will resonate even with non–sports fans."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Told with candor, Semenya's story reminds readers to treat all humans with dignity and that being different does not mean being wrong."

Brenda Barrera· Booklist Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"A gripping, provocative book that will engage readers of titles about track, international sports, gender politics, and acceptance."

Mark Jones· Library Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"In raw, sometimes unpolished prose, Semenya breaks her long silence, calling out her critics and asserting her right to be celebrated for her natural gifts, as other athletes are, rather than punished for them."

Jen A. Miller· The New York Times Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Moving, inspiring testimony by a woman facing hardship merely 'because of a biological condition I was born with.'"

Kirkus Read review ↗ Near the Top

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