It’s light work for Caster in 800m semi

LOOKING TO bring South Africa’s campaign to a climactic end, Caster Semenya will attempt to become a double 800m gold medallist in Sunday’s final at the IAAF World Championships.

Semenya made light work of her semi-final position the fastest time of the three races clocking one minute, 58.90 seconds.

The 26-year-old looks set to add another gold to South Africa’s record medal haul at the world championships where the team has already clinched two gold, a silver, and two bronze medals.

She will be looking for a rare 800-1500m gold-bronze double attempting a similar attempt to that of Russia’s Svetlana Mastekova at the 1999 World Championships in Seville.

Svetlana Masterkova of Russia achieved a similar feat at the 1999 World Championships in Seville where she won gold in the 1500m and bronze in the two-lap race. The South African has hardly been pushed over the past two years boasting a winning streak of 18 victories in as many finals.

The final promises to be anything but a walk in the park for Semenya with former junior world champion Ajee Wilson of the US emerging as one of the challengers. Wilson recently posted a new personal best of 1:55.61 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting.

She won her semi-final in a time of 1:59.21 with 2015 world silver medallist Melissa Bishop also qualifying for the final.

In the final semi- final Olympic silver and bronze medallists Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Kenya’s Margaret Wambui also marched into the final in a slow and tactical race.

Semenya’s biggest threat will come in the form of the diminutive Niyonsaba, who boasts the second fastest time this year with the 1:55.47 she posted in Monaco.

Semenya’s former training partner Gena Lofstrand missed out on the final, finishing last in her semifinal in 2:03.67.