After improving her own South African record in the 1000m, Caster Semenya was ecstatic to add another accolade to her growing list of achievements in the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Berlin on Sunday.
“It was a great race, but I was tiring a little bit because I was leading the entire time,” said Semenya, competing three days after taking the IAAF Diamond League 800m title in Zurich.
“I am very happy with the time. The crowd was fantastic, the meeting and the stadium are amazing.”
A year after breaking the world best for 600m at this IAAF World Challenge meeting, the 27-year-old stormed to the fifth fastest 1000m time in history. Running without pacemakers Semenya clocked 2:30.70, a world lead an SA record.
Once the field got going at the second attempt after an initial false start, Semenya stormed ahead to take command. Passing 400m in 59.51, she was on schedule for a sub-2:30 time, which could have threatened the 2:28.98 world record set by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova 22 years ago. Running alone, she slowed over the second lap, passing 800m in 2:01.07 before reaching the finish to clip 0.31 from the national record she set earlier this year.
Behind her Uganda’s Halima Nakaayi and Kenya’s Nelly Jepkosgei broke national records as well, taking second and third in 2:34.88 and 2:35.30 respectively.
Another strong performance came in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, won by Colleen Quigley of the US with a personal best of 9:10.27 from Kenyan Daisy Jepkemei who clocked 9:14.66. Further back, Australia’s Genevieve Lacaze was third in 9:23.69 ahead of Marusa Mismas who clocked a 9:28.61 national record for Slovenia.
Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the fastest woman in the world this year, won the 100m in 11.08 from Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye, who clocked 11.13. Finishing strongly Germany’s Gina Lückenkemper took third in 11.18.
In the 1500m Timothy Cheruiyot again confirmed his position as the world’s number one metric miler. Three days after his triumph in Zurich he won with a fine 3:32.37 from fellow-Kenyan Ferguson Rotich who was nearly a second back in 3:33.21. Ismael Debjani of Belgium was third in 3:34.40.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman
