Semenya wins 5,000m, falls short of Olympic qualifying time The two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya retained her South African 5000m title last month in Pretoria with her best time over the distance, but still far from the Olympic minimum which means she would not make it to the Olympics. With three months to go before the Tokyo Games (July 23-August 8), the 30-year-old athlete clocked 15:52’28”, more
Dutch-born duo Luckassen brothers opt to play for Ghana Dutch-born brothers Kevin and Derrick Luckassen have opted to represent Ghana at the international level. A revelation made known to the Ghana soccer website and making news around Ghana. Kevin (27) and Derrick Luckassen (25), are brothers with Brian Brobbey, who, unlike his brothers, took his father’s last name. Kevin Luckassen, who is on the roster of Turkish Süper Lig side Kayserispor and Derrick, who is also on loan at Kasımpaşa from PSV Eindhoven have decided to commit their international future to the African giants and help Ghana to win laurels including the African Cup of Nations and probably the World Cup. Ghana coach Charles Akonnor has already approached their younger brother Brian Brobbey over a nationality switch although he remains committed to the Netherlands, play-
than 42 seconds off the mark required (15:10’) to go to Japan. She has until June 29 to qualify. She has to officially improve her time or else there would be no Olympics for her this year. Gold medalist in the 800m at the London and Rio Olympics, the South African will not be able to defend her title in Tokyo. She has a natural excess of male sex hormones and refuses any treatment to lower her testosterone level below the maximum threshold (5 nmol/L of blood) defined by World Athletics to compete with women over distances ranging from 400 meters to the mile (1609 m). Semenya has been fighting with World Athletics (ex-IAAF) for more than ten years but has already lost several appeals. In August, the Swiss Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the name of “sporting fairness”, thus validating the World Athletics regulation that defines a maximum testosterone threshold. On February 19, Semenya decided to take the case to the ECHR in Strasbourg, which did not specify when it would rule. The athlete initially planned to try to qualify for the 200m for the Olympics, but the battle with World Athletics was compounded by sporting considerations that led her to the 5000m. “I’m 30 years old and if I continued to run sprints, it would be a risk to my muscles. On the long distances, you have more time to achieve consistency,” said the three-time 800m world champion.
ing for Ajax Football club of Amsterdam. However, Kevin and Derrick have taken the lead in deciding to represent Ghana at the international level. “If my brothers have a problem with something, I try to help them,” Kevin
Luckassen said. “We are all very ambitious. Brian benefits from that. He has already seen what can come your way. Once he is satisfied, we will say there is still room for improvement. I think he needs that too. He’s the four of us the most shit about everything. “ Brobbey, who will join German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in July 2021, is yet to make a decision on his international future.
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