Caster wins gold

21 August 2016 2:24 AM

Caster Semenya cruises through once again in the Women's 800m final in Rio at 2.27 am South African time.

She set a new South African national record.

Social media has come out in full support of the 25 year old athlete with #TeamCaster and #Caster4Gold trending in the early hours of the morning as her fans counted the minutes until her race.

#HandsOffCaster RT @Bailing_M mmmm, looks like double standards to me🤔 #Caster4Gold #RioOlympics2016 pic.twitter.com/V2syHU6ytr
— DJ Fresh (Big Dawg) (@DJFreshSA) August 17, 2016

.@caster800m is running in the second heat for the 800m at 4:02pm #Caster4Gold Pic:Google pic.twitter.com/iWqaOTtHHF
— 702 (@Radio702) August 17, 2016

We'll witness @caster800m silence the haters at 3:55pm today #TeamSAwayawaya #Caster4Gold @MbalulaFikile #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/6XgqfXptJx
— 702 (@Radio702) August 17, 2016

On Wednesday, Caster Semenya cruised through her women’s 800-metre qualifier.

Caster Semenya made world headlines at the age of 18, when she won gold for the women's 800m at the World Championships in 2009.

Her victory back then was marred when she was subjected to gender testing. She was withdrawn form international competition until 2010 when the IAAF cleared her to race again.

Now, 7 years later, at the age of 25, South Africa's golden girl is back to compete in the Rio Olympics. South African's have rallied behind the athlete after ongoing criticism by foreign media regarding her eligibilty to race with other women.

Social media campaigns #CasterisMokgadi and #HandsOffCaster have taken off, as the nation gets behind the athlete and dismisses negative reports about her.

These groups have gained momentum with celebrities and South African's alike, sharing and supporting the popular campaigns.

#HandsOffCaster - they have started again to unsettle our heroine - ignore them girl and bring that gold home
— Zwelinzima Vavi (@Zwelinzima1) August 17, 2016

Written by: Barbara Friedman