World will watch women’s 800m closely at Commonwealth Games in Delhi
The woman’s 800m Diamond League final in Brussels Friday has set the stage for an exciting race in Delhi at the Commonwealth Games in October. Diamond Trophy winner, Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya, and second place finisher Mariya Savinova of Russia will take on Caster Semenya of South Africa, and home crowd favourite, Tintu Luka of India.
Kenya dominated long and middle distances during the Diamond League season winning the Diamond Trophy in seven out of eight middle and long distance running events, and saw a number of their athletes finish in the top ten in those events. Jepkosgei had a tough season long battle with Savinova, and Alysia Johnson of the United States, each of them won two races during the Diamond League season with Jepkosgei taking the last one, worth double the points. Halima Hachlaf of Morocco won the only race not won by one of these three.
Jepkosgei won the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while Savinova has won gold at the 2010 European Championships, the 2010 World Indoor Championships, and the 2009 European Indoor Championships.
Caster Semenya has only won the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 World Challenge so far, both in Berlin, but much of the reason for that is because of a temporary suspension by the IAAF. After winning both Berlin races her fellow athletes were critical of her claiming that she was actually a man.
In 2009, at the World Championships, Eliza Cusma Piccione of Italy said “For me, she is a man,” and earlier this month in Berlin, at the World Challenge, Diane Cummins of Canada said, “we are literally running against a man.”
Owing to an incredible 25 second improvement in the 1,500m, and an eight second improvement in the 800m, the IAAF decided to conduct drugs tests which eventually led to gender testing. Semenya was unable to compete until the IAAF allowed her to return to competition in July.
Semenya was able to participate in the Diamond League final race on 27 August after missing the entire season, but was only able to finish in third place behind Jepkosgei and Savinova, with a time of 1:59.65. Many expect Semenya to be breaking world records sometime in the next couple of years. For now her goal is to finish sub two minutes, a common goal for runners of the women’s 800m.
21 year-old Tintu Luka was expected to run the final in Brussels in under two minutes, but came in at a time of 2:00.79 instead, her personal best. She will be looking to improve upon that performance in Delhi.
Luka is the daughter of Indian athlete P.T. Usha, who in the 1980s and the early 1990s won a number of medals in the Asian Games. She finished in fourth place in the 400m in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, only a hundredth of a second behind the bronze medal winner.
The competition in Delhi will be a precursor for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and while many believe that Semenya will undoubtedly win the gold, it was proven in Brussels that Semenya is not unbeatable.
The world record for the women’s 800m is 1:53.28, set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of the state formerly known as Czechoslovakia, one of only two women to run the 800m under 1:54. Semenya’s best time to date is 1:55.45 while Jepkosgei’s best time is 1:56.04, and Savinova’s best time is 1:57.56. Both Jepkosgei and Savinova have now beaten Semenya in competition, the question is will they, or up-and-comers like Luka, be able to beat Semenya in future races, or will she be as dominant as predicted. The Commonwealth Games will go far in determining the future of the women’s 800m.
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