Caster to focus exclusively on 800m event

Caster Semenya will focus only on her specialist 800m event at the Rio Olympic Games, despite qualifying for the 400m and 1500m as well.

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Rio de Janeiro - Caster Semenya will focus only on her specialist 800m event at the Rio Olympic Games her coach Jean Verster revealed on Friday.

The Olympic silver medallist was initially entered for both the 400m and 800m after she qualified for both events as well as the 1500m.

Verster said shortly after her South African record-breaking run in the two-lap event she would race the 400-800m double.

Asked in a text message whether Semenya would be racing in both events at the Games, Verster said 'only the 800m'.

Verster said it was a mutual decision for her to give it a proper bash in the 800m instead of dividing her attention between the middle-distance and sprint event.

Semenya is in the form of her life Semeneya breaking her seven-year-old record by 0.12 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco in July.

She clocked a time of one minute, 55.33 seconds (1:55.33) producing the 12th fastest time women’s 800m history, and the best since 2008.

Semenya emerged as decent one-lap sprinter this season improving her one-lap sprint time on three occasions this year.

She posted a season’s best of 50.74 seconds for the national title in April in Stellenbosch.

Semenya has been touted as a sure fire medallist in the 800m thanks to dominating for this season.

In her last race before the Olympics she dragged four women in the field to season’s and personal best times with Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba posting a new national record clocking 1:56.24.

Independent Media