Semenya has been plagued by a almost constant debate over whether or not she should be allowed to compete in the woman’s 800m since she burst onto the scene winning gold at the 2009 World Championships.
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Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi took silver in 1:56.49 with Kenya’s Margaret Wambui claiming bronze in 1:56.89.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport past year ruled that there was no proof that extra testosterone was beneficial to intersex athletes and ruled that they need not take medication.
It was a personal best, a new South African national record and the fifth-fastest time in Olympic history. Infact, a couple of hours before the 800m final IAAF president Sebastian Coe reiterated that they will soon go back to CAS to try and overturn the decision on athletes with this condition.
Semenya’s performance drew praise from Paula Radcliffe, the current women’s marathon world record holder.
Semenya thanked fans who chanted her name – but, asked what she wanted to say to her critics, she answered: “I do not have the time for them”.
“I don’t want to just be a finalist”.
“The injury that I got, I dislocated my knee a week after the Olympics, so it has been hard, and the most important thing was to get my leg together, stay fit and injury free”, Semenya said.
“Sport is meant to unite people”, she added.
“It’s not about the people, it’s all about you”. It’s not about being more muscular, it’s all about sport’. When you walk out of your apartment, you think about performing. “The advice would be for everybody to go out and have fun”.
Semenya has dominated the 800m this season and there had been speculation she could take down Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1983 time of 1:53.28 seconds – the longest standing athletics world record, set in an era when eastern European doping was rife.
“I commend her for her resilience, and for remaining focused on attaining her goal of an Olympic gold medal, under very stressful circumstances”, he said.
“The race was a little bit quick, the first 400 we were pushing ourselves, it was great”, Semenya said. My coach told me to be patient and wait for the right moment. The field was really good.
“Well if you look at the field, the field was fantastic, so it was just about pacing myself well”.
Semenya’s victory will not please everyone.
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Caster Semenya won the women’s 800m in 1min 55.28sec on Saturday. She didn’t even qualify for the final of the 2015 world championships a year ago, finishing last in her semifinal. The race is over, but the debate has a way to run. I think that’s what we need to keep doing. “You can see that it’s easy for them”. “It is out of our control and how much we rely on people at the top sorting it out”.
