Semenya puts her foot down in Doha

Caster Semenya wins the 800m womens final during Day 2 of the 2016 ASA SA Senior Championships at Coetzenburg Stadium, Stellenbosch on 16 April 2016 ©Chris Ricco/BackpagePix

Caster Semenya wins the 800m womens final during Day 2 of the 2016 ASA SA Senior Championships at Coetzenburg Stadium, Stellenbosch on 16 April 2016 ©Chris Ricco/BackpagePix

Published May 6, 2016

Share

Cape Town - She cruised in the middle of the pack for almost two-thirds of the race, and it brought back memories of her subdued start to the 2012 London Olympic final.

But this time, Caster Semenya came first instead of second as she claimed victory in the 800m at the opening Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday night.

The 2009 world champion has had to run virtually alone for most of the South African season, such was her dominance as she often led from start to finish.

But with all the speed training that she’s done in the 400m this year, Semenya has a lot left in reserve these days, and it showed at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium.

Semenya – who won the 400m, 800m and 1 500m titles at the South African championships in Stellenbosch in April – put the foot down in the last 100m to leave the rest of the field for dead.

The 25-year-old improved on her previous season’s best with a 2016 world-leading time of 1:58.26 to win by almost a second from Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu, who ran 1:59.14.

It was a classy performance from the Olympic silver medallist, who will be looking to go one step further in Rio in August.

Semenya has also improved her endurance by running several 1 500m events this year, which bodes well for the Olympics. She told Independent Media previously that her next meet is likely to be the Diamond League event in Rabat, Morocco on May 22.

“I feel very good this year. I am focused on what I am doing. My preparation has gone really well, but I can’t say there have been many changes in my training or attitude,” Semenya told the Diamond League website.

“I have a great team behind me – my coach, my physio, a team of scientists. My next race will be in Rabat and I’ll do three more races until the Olympics. Perhaps one will be in Monaco.”

But it wasn’t only Semenya who flew the South African flag high in Qatar on Friday, as javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen clinched victory as well.

A bronze medallist at the world championships in Beijing last year, Viljoen pulled out her best effort of the event in the first round, with a season’s best of 65.14m being enough to hold off Australia’s Kathryn Mitchell (63.25m) and Lu Huihui of China (62.42m).

Discus thrower Victor Hogan didn’t match his world-leading distance from the South African championships, but will still be pleased about coming third behind world champion Piotr Malachowski from Poland.

Hogan, in fact, held the lead after the third round with 65.59m, but couldn’t improve his mark and didn’t get close to his 67.62m recorded last month.

His coach Kaai Preller warned his young charge to beware wasting his rounds with no-throws after he produced four at the SA champs, but Hogan couldn’t shake off that problem as he stepped out of the circle in his final two rounds.

That is when the big guns flexed their muscles, with first Belgian Philip Milanov producing a national record of 67.26m with his second-last throw to take the lead.

But Malachowski was not going to be shown up by his younger competitors, and pulled out a huge effort of 68.03m with his last chance to clinch victory.

One athlete who would be somewhat disappointed with her performance on the night was Wenda Nel in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Nel entered the event with a world-leading time of 54.84 that she ran in winning the SA title in Stellenbosch last month. But after going into the lead in the first 200m in Doha, Nel faded a bit as Great Britain’s Eilidh Doyle came through strongly on the home straight to win in 54.53, which set a new best time for 2016.

Nel ended fourth in 55.17 after hoping that the top-class competition at a Diamond League meet would spur her on to get closer to the magical sub-54-second mark.

Another South African athlete not at their best was 110m hurdles national champion Antonio Alkana, who was well off his 2016 best of 13.37 as he ended in eighth and last in 13.50. Jamaica’s Omar McLeod ran a terrific 13.05 to win ahead of countryman Hansle Parchment (13.10).

The sixth individual South African who competed in Doha, 1 500m runner Dumisane Hlaselo, came ninth in a season’s best of 3:36.35 as Kenyan star Asbel Kiprop romped home in 3:32.15.

A SA 4x400m relay squad of Shaun de Jager, Thapelo Phora, Pieter Conradie and Jon Seeliger were sent to Doha to try and qualify for the Olympics, but they failed to finish.

Some of the other highlights of the meet saw US 400m heavyweight LaShawn Merritt win in 44.41, but it was well short of the 44.11 that world champion Wayde van Niekerk produced at the SA Open Championships in Bloemfontein earlier on Friday.

Women’s 100m star Tori Bowie recorded the fastest time of the year to win in 10.80, while a relatively new kid on the block in the men’s 200m, Ameer Webb, clocked a fast 19.85, which was a new meeting record and personal best.

The next Diamond League event takes place in Shanghai, China next Saturday.

Selected Results

Men’s 400m

1 LaShawn Merritt (USA) 44.41

2 Machel Cedenio (Trinidad & Tobago) 44.68

3 Abdalleleh Haroun (Qatar) 44.81

Men’s Discus

1 Piotr Malachowski (Poland) 68.03m

2 Philip Milanov (Belgium) 67.26m

3 Victor Hogan (South Africa) 65.59m

Men’s 1 500m

1 Asbel Kiprop (Kenya) 3:32.15

2 Elijah Manangoi (Kenya) 3:33.67

3 Silas Kiplagat (Kenya) 3:33.86

9 Dumisane Hlaselo (South Africa) 3:36.35

Men’s 110m Hurdles

1 Omar McLeod (Jamaica) 13.05

2 Hansle Parchment (Jamaica) 13.10

3 Orlando Ortega (Spain) 13.12

8 Antonio Alkana (South Africa) 13.50

Women’s 100m

1 Tori Bowie (USA) 10.80

2 Dafne Schippers (The Netherlands) 10.83

3 Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica) 10.91

Women’s 400m hurdles

1 Eilidh Doyle (Great Britain) 54.53

2 Kemi Adekoya (Bahrain) 54.87

3 Kaliese Spencer (Jamaica) 55.02

4 Wenda Nel (South Africa) 55.17

Women’s 800m

1 Caster Semenya (South Africa) 1:58.26

2 Habitam Alemu (Ethiopia) 1:59.14

3 Eunice Jepkoech Sum (Kenya) 1:59.74

Women’s Javelin

1 Sunette Viljoen (South Africa) 65.14m

2 Kathryn Mitchell (Australia) 63.25m

3 Lu Huihui (China) 62.42m

[email protected]

@IndyCapeSport

Independent Media

Related Topics: