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Caster Semenya has given South Africa reason to believe in her again.
Though it is still early in the season, her 51.47 seconds in the 400m and 2:00.23 over the 800m are world leading times in the current International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) global rankings.
The 25-year-old seems to be reaching top form and has qualified for the 400m and 800m at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The North-West University runner this week clocked 2:00.23 en route to clinching the 800m final at the second leg of the Athletics SA Nite Series in Cape Town.
Marking her first appearance in her specialist two-lap race at the one-night meeting at Green Point Stadium on Tuesday, Semenya’s winning margin breached the 2:01.50 Rio entry standard for the second time.
She had already qualified with the 1:59.59 she ran at the IAAF World Championships in China last year.
In the past, Semenya failed to qualify or sneaked in at the last minute for major international competitions.
She said the sub-two minute mark at the Beijing showpiece was the turning point in her bid to match the performances that propelled her to the podium not so long ago.
“It was a confidence booster because I picked up from there, since I never really had enough competitive races before the world championships,” said Semenya, whose 400m personal best time of 51.47 seconds breached the 52.20 barrier for Rio qualification. She attained the mark during the provincial championships in Potchefstroom, which she has called home for almost a year since she joined renowned middle-distance specialist coach Jean Verster.
Will Semenya tackle both distances in Rio?
“My coach and I haven’t decided anything on doing both. Our main focus is on making sure my legs are strong. Remember, I had a knee injury not so long ago.”
Semenya marked her return from injury in July last year, just in time for the Beijing World Championships in China.
She says that if she were to do the double in Rio, there would be enough time to recover between the two events, as there is a full day between the 400m final and the first round of the 800m. As for her preparations, the Limpopo-born runner said she was pleased with the amount of work done in the past two months of training.
“The most important thing is to be mentally and physically strong. I am happy with the work that has been put into our training programme. I’ll just go back to try to run under two minutes; that is the next target.
“As for the 400m, I’ll try to run 50 [seconds], so that I am ready for the European season.”
She hinted that she was likely to race at the Doha, Qatar, or Rabat, Morocco, Diamond League meetings in May.
Locally, Semenya will compete in the second instalment of Varsity Athletics in Stellenbosch on April 7, a week before she puts her national 800m title on the line at the SA Senior Track and Field Championships, also in Stellenbosch.
