SOUTH AFRICA’S Caster Semenya cruised to victory in the women’s 800m Saturday, producing a devastating final kick to claim her first Olympic gold.
The 25-year-old 2012 silver medallist turned on the gas with 150m to go to cross the line more than 1.20sec clear of the field in 1min 55.28sec at the Olympic Stadium.
Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi took silver in 1:56.49 with Kenya’s Margaret Wambui claiming bronze in 1:56.89.
Semenya has been at the centre of a raging controversy in recent years because of her naturally occurring condition, hyperandrogenism, which causes elevated testosterone levels.
Rival runners have said they want authorities to revisit rules that limit the amount of testosterone allowed in competitors.
Semenya exploded onto the global athletics scene in 2009, winning gold at the World Championships in Berlin as an 18-year-old prodigy.
However her muscular appearance immediately raised suspicions, and a furore erupted when it emerged the teenager had been ordered to undergo a test to determine whether she was a woman.
Partially in response to complaints from rival runners and coaches that the condition gave her an unfair advantage, world athletics chiefs implemented restrictions on testosterone levels in 2011.
Following the introduction of those rules, Semenya’s times slipped, with many assuming she was taking medication to control her testosterone production.
Even so, Semenya was still good enough to claim silver in the 2012 Olympics, only denied gold by a Russian runner, Mariya Savinova, who was later exposed as a drug cheat.
But a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last year judged the International Association of Athletics Federations restrictions illegal, freeing Semenya to compete in her natural state.
Since then Semenya has been head and shoulders above her rivals and is almost a full second quicker than anyone else this season.
On Saturday she never looked in trouble, biding her time after a 57.59sec opening lap.
Niyonsaba hit the front with around 300m to go but Semenya was always within striking distance.
With 150m left she made her move, calmly accelerating clear to take the lead as the race for silver and bronze unfolded behind her.
Canada’s Melissa Bishop dug deep in the home stretch but was just pipped for bronze by Wambui.
Phew, the big away games aren’t until 2013…..hopefully finances will have recovered from Pokraine by then.
Could be in a really strong qualifying position by then too. Win home, draw away.
it really is a very very difficult group
Would have been a lot easier if the draw took place in December as has always been the norm. They made the draw three months early when we were third seeds. We are second seeds now.
This is one of the hardest qualifying groups that we have had in a long time. Its not going to be easy to get out of that.
We play with our heart and soul….thats what makes us stand up from the rest….is not easy but we will get there…
Will keane,duff,dunne and given retire after euro12 ?, if so i cant see us qualifying…hope im wrong though.
Cork – Amsterdam – Almaty – Astana. €1500 for the flight to kazakhstan, not many takers at that price id say.
With Aer Lingus starting a Cork-Frankfurt route it would only require Cork-Frankfurt-Astana, no?
The agents will charter direct flights…..often cheaper for such destinations.
Trappatoni will try his best to convince the old guard to hang around, to the detriment of the future and current set of young players vying to make the squad. Players like Coleman, McCarthy, Brady, Clifford, Meyler, Rooney will see little to no international action while Trap is in charge. Also worthy players such as Hoolahan, Pilkington, Reid(Steven), Kenny, Garvan, Stokes, Best will not receive any recognition for their efforts.
You need a good mixture of youth and experience. trap has brought a lot of new faces into the fold over the past four years. Happy with where the squad is going into the Euros.
Has a ground been set for the Germany away match?
We are spoiled for quality strikers ATM so we will manage the transition minus Keane. Duff is starting to slow & prone to injury with Seamus Coleman a promising replacement. I don’t see a like for like replacement for Dunne yet, same for Given. I hope all four stay involved for WC qualifiers but it’s time now to start blooding their replacements.
by 2013 the youth will be in the team. no more Keane Duff etc. time for Coleman Clark and the likes to step up to the mark. second place looks likely. but with us you never know. it will be slap bang in middle of a transitional period too.