Cape Town - She’s undoubtedly one of the best 800m runners in the world, but Caster Semenya is set to face some tough opposition in the 400m at the Varsity Athletics event in Stellenbosch on Thursday.
The 2009 world champion in the longer distance will do the one lap once again at Coetzenburg as part of her build-up to the Rio Olympics in August.
The 25-year-old Semenya ran a personal best of 51.47 seconds last month, and is thinking of doing the shorter event as well in Brazil.
But at the moment, she is using it to improve her speed in the 800, with the ultimate aim being to break her South African record of 1:55.45 at the Olympics.
She ran the fastest time of the year in her only 800 so far in 2016 at the Athletics South Africa Night Series meet at the Green Point Stadium on March 22 with a 2:00.23, without a pace-maker and any threat from the field.
But on Thursday in the 400, she is coming up against star Maties sprinter Justine Palframan, who is equally accomplished in the 200m. The 22-year-old Palframan has a personal best of 51.27 in the 400, which is two-tenths of a second quicker than Semenya.
So there could be some sparks flying on the Coetzenburg track at around 7.05pm on Thursday. “Justine is a great runner, and she would push me to a good time,” Semenya told Independent Media on Wednesday.
“I’ll be doing the 400, I’m doing it for speed work. The 400 is just to keep up the speed, just to keep racing. It was my first 800 in Green Point, so I want to keep going and improve my speed.
“My aim at the end of the season is to run sub-50 in the 400. But I am not making any predictions for tomorrow! Tomorrow is not about the time. It’s part of my build-up and I just want to improve and help Pukke get more points to give them a chance to win the Varsity Cup.”
But the main focus in the short-term is next weekend’s SA National Track and Field Championships, which will also take place at Coetzenberg (April 15-16). Semenya said that in addition to her specialist 800m event, she will also be competing in the 1 500m next week, where her best time of 4:08.01 (ran in 2009) is not too far off Zola Budd’s national mark of 4:01.81, set in 1984.
So Thursday’s Varsity Athletics event is ideal preparation for the nationals. “Yes, of course (it is good preparation). The atmosphere, getting used to the track again. We’ve been running many times at Stellenbosch and we know that it is a good track for middle- and long-distance runners. I won my national title there before, so it is a good venue for us,” Semenya said.
“We will do 800 and 1 500 at the nationals. The 1 500 is more for my endurance and to build up my strength. Obviously when you run good times, your confidence rises. I have been putting in good performances, and it’s still quite early in the season.”
Thursday’s Varsity Athletics meet starts with the hammer throw at 4.30pm, with Semenya expected to run her 400m for NWU-Pukke at 7.05pm. Another top athlete to look out for will be men’s long jumper Ruswahl Samaai from the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
University of Pretoria’s Tuks are leading the standings going into the final event of the series on 15 496, with UJ in hot pursuit on 15 375. Semenya’s Pukke are third on 15 294, with the leading local varsity being Maties on 14 098 in fifth position.
The organisers announced on Wednesday that any South African record set will result in a R50 000 reward for the athlete or relay team.
Tickets range from R10 online to R20 at the gate.
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Independent Media