Caster claims another SA mark in Europe
Semenya smashes national 400m record in sensational run
● Caster Semenya smashed the South African 400m record yesterday as she clocked 49.62sec at the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
But it was good enough only for second place behind Bahrain’s pre-race favourite Salwa Eid Naser, the Diamond League champion who cruised to victory in 49.32, her second-fastest time of 2018.
The two-day meeting pits four continental regions against each other, and by the end of day one Africa were in last place on 74 points, behind Americas (135), Europe (123) and Asia-Pacific (89).
Semenya, the favourite for the women’s 800m today, delivered a sensational performance in the one-lap race, proving there’s
Naser of Bahrain had won every race over this distance this season except one
plenty of speed on a track where other sprints were rather slow, like the women’s 100m and men’s 200m.
The official SA women’s 400m mark had been the 50.05 Heide Seyerling ran while finishing fifth at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Semenya, however, had improved on that at the farcical African championships in Nigeria a month ago when she went 49.96 on a warped and bumpy track.
That time hadn’t been ratified, but no matter, she settled it in fine style yesterday and earned herself $15,000 as the runnerup.
She’ll pocket a further $30,000 if she wins the 800m.
Add to that the $50,000 she won at the Diamond League finals, and her bank account would have swollen by R1.45m in the space of 11 days.
Naser, by the way, has won every race she’s entered this season except one, when she was downed by Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who has focused most of her efforts on the 200m this season.
And Semenya probably wasn’t even supposed to beat American Shakima Wimbley, the second-fastest runner in the field who had a better first half than the South African.
Wimbley, in lane six, was almost level with Semenya, in the lane outside her, as they entered the back bend.
But by the time they hit the home straight, Semenya was far ahead of Wimbley.
Ruswahl Samaai was the only SA competitor to score a win, worth eight points. He dominated the long jump which saw a new knockout format where four of the eight competitors were eliminated after three rounds, two after the fourth round, and then a two-man fifth-round final.
Each new round meant past efforts were discarded.
Olympic champion Jeff Henderson of the US ended third, unable to make the final, and Australia’s Commonwealth Games champion Henry Frayne, who got the better of Samaai in Gold Coast, was fourth.
Samaai showed no nerves in the suddendeath format, and all four of his legal jumps were better than anyone else’s in the field. His 8.16m leap in the second round was the best, followed by his 8.10 in the final, 8.09 in the semifinal and 8.05 in his opening effort.
But the knockout format didn’t suit Croa- tia’s Sandra Perkovic in the women’s discus; a no-throw in the final cost her victory despite owning the two best throws of the competition from earlier rounds.
Disaster struck Africa’s all-SA men’s 4x100m relay team before the first handover when Commonwealth Games 100m silver medallist Henricho Bruintjies collapsed in a heap on the track.
The Americas team, starring Noah Lyles and Yohan Blake, won in 38.05, but in top form the SA contingent would have surely beaten second-placed Europe’s 38.96.