Caster is tipped red-hot
CASTER Semenya starts as a red-hot favourite to upgrade on her Olympic silver medal from London four years ago after enjoying a peerless campaign this summer when the 800m women’s heats begin here on Wednesday.
The 2009 world champion has endured several below-par seasons since 2012, but this year the South African has so far proved invincible. She has eight 800m wins in as many races, including four IAAF Diamond League victories and the African title.
Semenya has also registered three of the four fastest times in the world this year. Perhaps most impressive, however, has been the way Semenya has run most of the races with seemingly something to spare.
Her national record of 1:55.33 in Monaco last month elevated the 25-year-old to 12th on the world all-time list, while some experts believe Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 33-year-old world record of 1:53.28 could even be vulnerable in Rio.
The best of the rest this season has been Francine Niyonsaba.
The Burundian athlete, who placed sixth in the 2012 Olympic final, started the year with a bang by clinching the world indoor 800m crown in Portland.
During the outdoor campaign, Semenya has inflicted three defeats out of three on the 23-year-old, but three sub1:57 performances also prove that Niyonsaba is a top-class athlete.
The Burundian will be boosted by her national record time of 1:56.24 set in Monaco last month as she bids to be her country’s first female Olympic medallist in any sport. The 2013 world champion and last year’s world bronze medallist Eunice Sum has been a formidable championship performer in recent times. With a season’s best of 1:57.47 – also recorded in Monaco – it would be unwise to write off the Kenyan’s chances. Look out too for her teammate, 20-year-old Margaret Wambui, who secured victory at the Kenyan Olympic trials and banked bronze in Portland in March.
The non-African challenge is led by Canada’s world silver medallist Melissa Bishop, who emerged last year as a worldclass force.
The 27-year-old Pan American Games champion has enjoyed a consistent year and will have been lifted by a personal best of 1:57.43 in Edmonton last month.
World champion and 2014 European champion Mariya Arzamasova is also entered and her record alone should earn respect.
The Belarusian has a relatively modest season’s best of 1:59.65 and has not competed since June 10, but her build-up is not dissimilar to her season ahead of last year’s World Championships.
Others who have performed well this season include 2012 European champion Lynsey Sharp of Great Britain, who raced to a lifetime best of 1:57.75 in Monaco. Her compatriot, the World Championships fifth-place finisher Shelayna Oskan-Clarke, is another one to watch.
Another threat could be Renelle Lamote of France, who impressed at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham with a personal best of 1:58.01. – ANA