Violet Semenya surprised by her ASA Coach of the Year award

Semenya shed tears upon hearing her name announced as the winner of the annual awards ceremony.

In an emotional interview with SABC Sport, Semenya shared that she entered coaching to change young girls' lives and positively impact the black community.

"I would like to thank the almighty for this wonderful present, I didn't expect it but you know, when grace locates you. It gives me joy, at the same time it gives me emotional moments where when I started this journey,I didn't want to be a professional coach but I saw that especially in our black community we've got a lot of new girls and I took from my former coaches advice that when they need you the most especially, your fellow sisters, just go and serve,” Semenya said.

“So, I did what I was supposed to do and served the athletes and I got the results. It makes me to be more encouraged to work with the girls, especially girls so I'm happy and I'd like to thank my partner for supporting me all the time behind the scenes. It's not easy to work with girls but I'm happy."

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The year 2024 will be remembered as one of the standout years of her coaching career, her star athlete, Glenrose Xaba, not only shattered the national marathon record but also broke the Cape Town course record in her debut marathon.

Additionally, Xaba reclaimed the Spar Women’s 10km Grand Prix title for the first time since 2018.

Meanwhile, her younger athletes continue to show significant progress on both the track and in road events.

"2024 was very tough but productive at the same time because whatever we wished for, it's only one box that we didn't tick which is Olympic Qualifier but we ticked all those boxes,” she added.

“We won the Spar Grand Prix overall, we got the national record which is 10km, we wanted to run under 2:23 on the marathon and then by the grace of God we even got national record, which was a bonus."