Caster Semenya cruised past Francine Niyonsaba round the top bend
Semenya was steady before powering through to the line at the end
Her testosterone levels are much higher than the average woman
Two hours before Caster Semenya won 800m gold Seb Coe, the most powerful man in athletics, was in the basement of the Olympic Stadium being quizzed on her future.
Above ground, the 25-year-old South African breezed to victory, overtaking Francine Niyonsaba round the top bend and accelerating clear of the field as easily as the brush of her shoulders on the start line suggested she might.
Niyonsaba finished second with Kenya’s Margaret Wambui winning the bronze medal. Britain’s Lynsey Sharp ran a personal best of 1:57.69 but it was only good enough for sixth. Tellingly, few of Semenya’s beaten rivals rushed to congratulate their conqueror.
Her winning time was 1:55.28 but the debate around this race will last much longer. Throughout the week she has done her best to avoid the storm surrounding her inclusion in the race, rushing past journalists almost as quickly as she has vanquished rivals on the track.
Semenya is believed to be intersex, identifying as a woman, but with physical characteristics typically associated with both men and women. She has been diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, meaning her testosterone levels are much higher than the average woman. Whether this is any different, as one expert put it, to a swimmer having big feet or a basketball player being tall, is open to debate.
After an 18-year-old Semenya won at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009, the IAAF, athletics world governing body of which Coe is now president, determined a testerone threshold which if a female athlete exceeded they would be unable to compete in a women’s race.
The rule meant Semenya could run again but only if she took medicine to supress her testosterone. She won silver at the World Championships in 2011 and again at London 2012 but did not come close to her personal best of 1:55.33.
But another hyperandrogenic athlete, the Indian sprinter Dutee Chand appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging the IAAF regulations, claiming they had not provided enough evidence that female performances were improved by testosterone. She won and Semenya was free to compete without taking any testosterone supressing medication.
This year she has looked capable of challenging the world record of 1:53.28 set by Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983 and even last night she seemed to be running within herself, perhaps looking to limit the heat on her in the aftermath.
Semenya consoles Canada's Melissa Bishop (L) and Britain's Lynsey Sharp (C)
Coe defended her right to compete despite the IAAF still reinvestigating the right of Semenya and other hyperandrogenic athletes’ eligibility to compete. ‘They are sisters and daughters,’ he said, ‘and every athlete eligible to be here should be here.’
Matt Centrowitz was a surprise winner of the men’s 1500m as the pre-race favourite Asbel Kiprop missed out on the medals altogether. Britain’s Charlie Grice withstood a heavy push early on but finished second last.
