Caster hits the books after record run
She’s eclipsed her own South African record. Now Caster Semenya can take aim at the 800m world record and a gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
|||She’s eclipsed her own South African record. Now Caster Semenya can take aim at the 800m world record and a gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
The 25-year-old Semenya, the 2009 world champion, announced herself emphatically as the absolute favourite in Brazil on Friday night when she charged down the home straight at the Monaco Diamond League to win in 1:55.33, beating her previous mark of 1:55.45, which she achieved in Berlin when winning world championship gold.
Semenya outclassed her biggest rival, Francine Niyonsaba, by nearly a second as the Burundian finished in 1:56.24 – a new national record, but still not enough to get the better of the South African.
One may have thought Semenya would continue her momentum in the next Diamond League meet in London on July 22 and 23, but she has opted for something totally different for her build-up to Rio – hitting the books.
“I was expecting to run under 1:56. I am looking forward for gold in Rio,” Semenya told the Diamond League website after the race. “You have to believe in yourself and that’s what I did today. I dedicate my training and hard work for this PB (personal best), I’m pleased for myself, my coach and my family. I’ll go back home now, to school (at North-West University, where she is studying towards a sports science degree) to catch up with my studies before Rio.”
Her next target in terms of time will be the African record of 1:54.01, held by Kenyan Pamela Jelimo, and the best ever 800m effort of 1:53.28 set by the Czech Republic’s Jarmila Kratochvilova.
The women’s 800m heats in Rio is set down for Wednesday August 17, while Semenya has also qualified for the 400m and 1 500m, but has yet to make a final decision on whether she will enter those two events.
The 1 500m heats start on August 12 and the 400m heats the next day, so she will probably have to choose between one of the two if she is going to do a second event.
Apart from Wayde van Niekerk’s sparkling victory in the men’s 400m in Monaco, the other stand-out South African athlete on the night was sprinter Carina Horn. The national record-holder clocked a quick 11.14, not far off her SA mark of 11.06. which was particularly good considering she was in lane eight on what is a tight track at the Stade Louis II stadium.
What made Horn’s time even more remarkable is the fact that she had a nightmare trip to Monaco before the race, but still ended third Dutch star Dafne Schippers (10.94) and Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown (11.12).
“Getting to Monaco, I was really up against it,” Horn told the Sascoc website on Saturday.
“On Wednesday I had to change my flight as I hadn’t got my passport back from fixing my visa to London for the Diamond League (next weekend). My flight was then at 9pm on Thursday, and luckily at 2pm I got my passport back. Then my flight was delayed.
“I landed in Nice at 11pm, half-an-hour after those (truck) attacks. So I only got into my hotel at 1am on Friday. It was all very stressful with minimal sleep, so actually I’m very happy with my run after all the circumstances.”
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@ashfakmohamed