Caster Semenya won the 800 metres at the Doha Diamond League meeting yesterday in her first race since losing her appeal over a controversial gender ruling, claiming “actions speak louder than words”.
The South African, a two-time Olympic champion, timed 1min 54.98sec to defeat Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, who clocked 1min 57.75sec and Ajee Wilson of the United States in 1min 58.83sec.
Semenya’s victory could be her last over 800m before new IAAF rules governing testosterone levels come into operation on May 8.
“Actions speak louder than words. When you’re a great champion you always deliver,” Semenya told the BBC after setting a new meeting record.
“With me, life has been simple. I’m just here to deliver for the people who love and support me. I’m enjoying each and every moment of my life maybe because I have the love I need from my people.”
Asked if she intended to take the medication required to lower her testosterone levels, she later told reporters with a smile: “Hell no, that’s an illegal method.”
Semenya, 28, was only added to the 800m start list in Doha on Thursday morning, a day after her appeal against a new rule regulating testosterone levels for women athletes was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
She had challenged the measures, introduced by the IAAF, that will force women with higher than normal male hormone levels — so-called “hyperandrogenic” athletes — to artificially lower the amount of testosterone in their bodies if they are to continue competing.
The rules will come into effect on May 8 and will apply to athletes competing in races over distances of 400m to the mile.
Semenya hinted at quitting the sport in a tweet Thursday, saying: “Knowing when to walk away is wisdom. Being able to is courage. Walking away with your head held high is dignity.” Meanwhile, Sweden’s Daniel Stahl produced one of the finest discus series in history to highlight action on the field infield at the Doha 2019 IAAF Diamond League.
In the most dominant display of the night, the 26-year-old put the competition out of reach in the first round, throwing his discus 69.63m through the Doha night sky to break the meeting record set by Virgilijus Alekna in 2006. But he was just shaking off the rust.
Stahl followed up with throws of 70.49m and 70.56m, his farthest of the night, before capping the evening with efforts of 69.54m, 69.50m and 70.32m to become the first man to produce six throws beyond 69.50m in a single competition.
“I’ve been working a lot on my technique and training hard in the gym so I expected this,” said the world and European silver medallist. “It was a great atmosphere.”
Lukas Weisshaidinger was second with 66.90m with Ehsan Hadadi of Iran, who took the Asian title here two weeks ago, third with 66.78m.
For the 10th consecutive year, the Doha meeting kicked off the IAAF Diamond League, a series of the 14 finest one-day athletics competitions on the planet, and with it, the season-long chase for a slice of the US$8mn Diamond League prize pot. Athletes earn points in the first 12 stops to earn qualification for the two final winner-takes-all meetings to be held in Zurich (29 Aug) and Brussels (6 Sep).
In shot put, the assemblage of talent was the deepest of the evening. There, the proceedings went largely according to the early season form book with world leader Ryan Crouser prevailing in a tight battle with world champion Tom Walsh.
After a modest 20.06m effort in the opening round, Crouser unleashed a 22.13m toss in the second, a mark that held out for the win.
“I really felt the effects of 20 hours of travel, so I’m really glad that the 22.13m held out for the win,” said Crouser, who produced a 22.74m blast on 20 April to move up to sixth on the world all-time list.
Walsh, the Diamond League winner last year, reached 22.06m in the third round to secure the runner-up spot with South American record-holder Darlan Romani third with 21.60m.
Caterine Ibarguen, the 2018 Athlete of the Year and double Diamond Trophy winner, picked up where she left off last season, taking a victory in the long jump by two centimetres.
Brooke Stratton of Australia took command with a 6.73m leap in round two, but was overtaken in the fifth round when the competition sprung to life. Ibarguen reached 6.76m to take the lead and seal the win ahead of Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, the runner-up at last year’s European Championships, who leaped 6.74m.
Ibarguen’s assessment of her first competition in seven months?
“It was a good series of jumps but three fouls is not great,” the Colombian said. She’s hoping to remedy that in her next competition, which is set for Rome.
Extraordinarily for a home meet, none of the Qatari trio of Mutaz Barshim, Abderrehman Samba or Abdelelah Haroun were able to compete because their disciplines were not scheduled in Doha.
It’s another matter though that world high jump champion Barshim is still recovering from his ankle injury. Haroun’s pet 400m event and Samba’s 400m hurdles were also not part of the programme yesterday.
Qatar’s newly-crowned Asian champion Abubaker Hayder Abdalla finished a creditable fourth in the 800m in a race won by Botswana’s Nijel Amos in 1min44.29 seconds.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir was second, while USA’s Donovan Brazier finished third.
Abubaker, who had clocked a world-leading time of 1:44.43 during the Asian Athletics Championships last month in Doha, could only manage 1:44.82 yesterday.
“It was a great experience running with some of the greatest athletes over the distance,” said Abubaker.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya celebrates after winning the women’s 800m during the IAAF Doha Diamond League at the Khalifa International Stadium yesterday.
