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LONDON—Caster Semenya knew she’d blown her first Olympic final by starting out too slowly.
She expected critical feedback from her coach and, based on her experience over the last three difficult years, she expected some unkind speculation about her performance in the 800 metres.
She got both.
But she cherishes her Olympic silver medal all the same. Three years after being forced to undergo gender tests after winning the world title in a stunningly fast 1 minute, 55.45 seconds at age 18, Semenya is now an Olympic medallist, too.
The South African was sidelined for nearly a year while track and field’s governing body decided whether to allow her to compete. She was tested and eventually cleared to return to action in 2010, then was the runner-up at last year’s world championships.
She came to the London Games as a leading medal contender in the 800 and was even given the honour of carrying South Africa’s flag into the opening ceremony.
Unexpectedly, she slipped into last place from the start of the final and, even after a fast finishing kick from 250 metres out, left it too late to catch world champion Mariya Savinova, who posted a season-best 1:56.19 to win gold.
“Unfortunately it was too late. I’m happy with the silver but I know the coach (Maria Mutola) is not really happy,” Semenya said. “I tried hard to get back but the body wasn’t really on fire today. But I had to fight.”
It wasn’t her plan to trail at the back, but she didn’t panic when she found herself in trouble.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re back or front,” she said. “What matters is how you finish your race.”
That’s not how some critics saw it. One TV pundit speculated that Semenya didn’t go all out for gold because she didn’t want to create any controversy.
Semenya bristled when the question was put to her later at a news conference.
“The plan was, like I said, to win a gold,” she said. “I just made a mistake. A late kick.”
She expected critical feedback from her coach and, based on her experience over the last three difficult years, she expected some unkind speculation about her performance in the 800 metres.
She got both.
But she cherishes her Olympic silver medal all the same. Three years after being forced to undergo gender tests after winning the world title in a stunningly fast 1 minute, 55.45 seconds at age 18, Semenya is now an Olympic medallist, too.
The South African was sidelined for nearly a year while track and field’s governing body decided whether to allow her to compete. She was tested and eventually cleared to return to action in 2010, then was the runner-up at last year’s world championships.
She came to the London Games as a leading medal contender in the 800 and was even given the honour of carrying South Africa’s flag into the opening ceremony.
Unexpectedly, she slipped into last place from the start of the final and, even after a fast finishing kick from 250 metres out, left it too late to catch world champion Mariya Savinova, who posted a season-best 1:56.19 to win gold.
“Unfortunately it was too late. I’m happy with the silver but I know the coach (Maria Mutola) is not really happy,” Semenya said. “I tried hard to get back but the body wasn’t really on fire today. But I had to fight.”
It wasn’t her plan to trail at the back, but she didn’t panic when she found herself in trouble.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re back or front,” she said. “What matters is how you finish your race.”
That’s not how some critics saw it. One TV pundit speculated that Semenya didn’t go all out for gold because she didn’t want to create any controversy.
Semenya bristled when the question was put to her later at a news conference.
“The plan was, like I said, to win a gold,” she said. “I just made a mistake. A late kick.”
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