Caster runs fastest time this year

It was an outstanding performance by Caster Semenya in the International Association of Athletics Federation’s 800m women’s final last night.

The finish which came in incredible 1 minute, 55 seconds was the fastest time for this year, despite being faced by mounting social media criticism on her gender and perceived unfair advantage.

The win also meant that the South African contingent held onto their third place ranking for the most medals won at the London meeting, following the United States (30 medals) and Kenya (9 medals).

Earlier in the championship, the 26-year-old Semenya, a North-West University sports science graduate, won bronze in the metric mile (1,500m) final.

The only other South African to earn two medals was University of the Free State’s Wayne van Niekerk who took the gold in the 400m and silver in the 200m.

The remaining medals came from the jumpers – Luvo Manyonga earned gold in the long jump, and Ruswahl Samaai took the bronze in the long jump.

Pictures courtesy of IAAF