PRETORIA, April 20 (Reuters) – Former world 800 metres
champion Caster Semenya qualified for the London Olympics on
Friday when she eased to victory in one minute 59.58 seconds at
a Yellow Pages Series meeting.
Semenya, 21, underwent gender tests at the 2009 Berlin world
championships where she won the 800 gold medal.
She did not compete for almost a year until the
International Association of Athletics Federations cleared her
to run again after accepting the conclusions of an expert
medical panel.
The South African Olympic committee requires athletes to
meet the qualifying time twice, one at a local meeting and once
in an international competition.
Semenya reached her first qualifying mark when she finished
second in last year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea.
“It’s a weight off my shoulders and I’m very happy with my
time,” Semenya told reporters. “I just ran my own race and it
went okay, it’s best that way and I enjoyed it, that’s why I
qualified.”
Semenya failed to reach the qualifying standard in last
weekend’s national championships in the coastal city of Port
Elizabeth, clocking 2:02.68 in windy conditions. On Friday she
became the first woman in 21 years to run under two minutes on
South African soil.
“The start was good and we had trained hard and planned to
qualify in South Africa. There’s now no need for me to go to the
African championships and I know my plans for the European
season, I must just be patient,” Semenya said.
Continued…
