South African star Caster Semenya has been confirmed for the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham on Saturday, August 18.

Serving as her first ever race in Birmingham, Semenya will compete over 1500m at the Alexander Stadium. The 27-year-old has enjoyed success in the UK at both London 2012’s Olympic Games and last summer’s IAAF World Championships in the same city.

Having established her status as the 800m athlete to beat following three successive world titles and back to back Olympic golds over the distance, Semenya’s outing in Birmingham over 1500m – a distance which she has claimed world bronze and Commonwealth gold in the past 12 months – will see her have one eye on breaking her own South African record time of 3:59.92 set earlier this year in Doha.

“It has been such an amazing 12 months for me and I cannot wait to continue it by competing back in the UK again and in Birmingham for the first time ever,” said Semenya, speaking ahead of competing in Birmingham.

“It is rare that I get to race somewhere for the first time, so that in particular is really exciting and will motivate me to perform very well in what I know will be a great, great race.”

Among those joining Semenya in racing over the 1500m is five-time world championship medallist Sifan Hassan (NED).

Hassan impressively won the inaugural Millicent Fawcett mile in London less than two weeks ago in a time of 4:14.71, the fourth quickest women’s mile time in history, and is sure to relish returning to Birmingham having set Dutch records on her previous two outings in the city.

Also set to be present is Gudaf Tsegay (ETH), an athlete who carries extraordinary range with sub-2:00, sub-4:00 and sub-15:00 minute personal best times for 800m, 1500m and 5000m respectively, while world championship finalists Winny Chebet and Laura Weightman are joined by 2017 European indoor finalist Sarah McDonald.

Giving her thoughts on the relationship she holds with the British crowd, Semenya added: “I have been fortunate enough to have raced at the two biggest events in Britain in recent years – the 2012 Olympic Games and the world championships last year – and they were both unforgettable.

“The supporters themselves are absolutely amazing and have always been so welcoming – when it comes to your turn to be introduced before the start of a race, you know that there is a big, big cheer waiting.

“Hopefully I can repay them in Birmingham by being part of a great race and running very well, though I know the competition will be very tough as it always is.”

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The Olympic and newly crowned world 800m champion posted 1:21.77 to break the previous best of 1:22.63 set 20 years ago by Ana Fidelia Quirot of Cuba.

Semenya won her first world title at the Olympic Stadium in 2009 and today’s (August 27) world best performance will add to the special memories she has of Berlin.

American Ajee Wilson, the world 800m bronze medallist also dipped under the previous world best, clocking 1:22.39 behind Semenya.

The post Caster Semenya Smashes 600m World Best in Berlin appeared first on Fast Running.

It was a stunning personal best run by Semenya to reclaim a world title she first won in 2009 at the World Championships in Berlin.

The South African star was in fourth place going through the bell, with Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, Kenya’s Margaret Nyairera Wambui and Ajee Wilson of the USA attempting to upset one of the most expected gold medals in London.

Wambui was quickly dropped and as the remaining trio took the bend Semenya turned it up another gear powering past Niyonsaba and Wilson to clinch the gold medal in 1:55.16.

Niyonsaba held on for silver in 1:55.92, ahead of Wilson, who took bronze in 1:56.65. While Britain’s Lynsey Sharp finished eighth.

The Olympic and new world champion’s finishing time of 1:55.16 was the fastest in the world this year, a South African national record, a personal best and the eighth fastest 800m of all time – not a bad evening’s work for the 26-year-old.

“I’m lucky to have a great support team who work with me. Full credit to them,”Semenya said.

“Another world title is a fantastic honour for me and I love to do it here in London. The crowd are so welcoming to me and it makes it feel even more special, she added.”

Earlier in the week Semenya finished third in the 1500m, just pipping Britain’s Laura Muir for the bronze medal in her first race over the longer distance at a major championships.

Watch Semenya post race interview

The post South Africa’s Caster Semenya seals third world 800m gold appeared first on Fast Running.

In the penultimate Diamond League meeting before the World Championships in London, 800m star Semenya will step down to 400m Olympic champion, Miller-Uibo’s signature event.

South Africa’s Semenya, has limited race experience over 400m, and is yet to break the 50 seconds mark.

The race will not just be about the Olympic champions, and US stars Quanera Hayes and Natasha Hastings, and Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, will want to put in strong performances in Rabat.

In the women’s 100m, double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson, will aim to continue her impressive form this year, ahead of next month’s World Championships.

At the recent Anniversary Games in London, Thompson, showed it really doesn’t matter what footwear she has on. To protect an injury, the Jamaican star ran in flats instead of spikes, and still dominated the 100m field to take the win.

Also racing in the women’s 100m, is British sprinter Daryll Neita.

In the men’s 200m Canada’s triple Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse will face Great Britian’s Zharnel Hughes, and USA’s Fred Kerley and Ameer Webb.

Other British athletes making their way to the 10th Diamond League meeting of the year, include CJ Utah and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake in the 100m. Robbie Grabarz in the high jump, World Championship bound, Laura Weightman in the 1500m, and Eilidh Doyle in the 400m hurdles.

There are no Irish athletes travelling to Rabat for the IAAF Diamond League meeting.

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The field for the IAAF Diamond league meet includes every medalist from the Rio Olympics, as well as the World Championships indoors and outdoors, and the last four IAAF Diamond League winners.

The international track & field meet will take place over 2 days, May 26th and 27th.

In addition, Hayward Field will see the return of its record holder and an American who is the youngest ever to run under 1:58 on its historic oval, both coming at previous memorable Pre Classic races.

You want fast times? Everybody in the field has a sub-1:58 lifetime best.

Lynsey Sharp, 26, is a two-time Olympian who ran her fastest in the Rio Games – and the fastest by anyone from Great Britain since Kelly Holmes won the 2004 Olympic gold in Athens. Ranked No. 2 in the world in 2015 by T&FN, Sharp’s 1:57.69 at Rio was a PR by more than second, bettering her best from earning silver at European Championships in 2014.

Caster Semenya will return to Hayward Field as the owner of two Olympic gold medals, the first ever in this event. The 26-year-old South African used a tremendous finish in Rio to repeat her London victory from 2012. It was her fourth global title in a career that has seen ups and downs beginning in 2009, when at 18 she was the youngest ever to win the World Championships.

Semenya’s 2016 season was clearly her best yet and showed a return to form not seen since 2012, when she first won Olympic gold and last ranked among the world’s top 10 by Track & Field News. In 2016, Semenya demonstrated impressive range from the 400 (winning the Diamond League final in 50.40) to the 1500 (winning the African Championships gold in 4:01.99) in addition to being ranked No. 1 in the world by T&FN for the first time since 2009.

This will be only the second race in the U.S. for Semenya – she was 2nd to Jamaica’s Kenia Sinclair in the 2011 Pre Classic. Semenya is undefeated in the 800 since September 2015, a streak currently at 12 races.

Francine Niyonsaba, who will turn 24 on May 5, won the World Indoor title in Portland last year. Last summer she became the first woman from Burundi to earn an Olympic medal with her silver from Rio. Niyonsaba’s Pre Classic victory in 2013 at age 20 produced Hayward Field’s still-standing record of 1:56.72 – her only other race on U.S. soil besides last year’s World Indoor gold.

Niyonsaba first captured attention in 2012, coming out of nowhere to win the African Championships at age 19. That summer followed with her country’s first Olympic final by a woman (5th) and a season where she ranked No. 3 by T&FN. She was dominant last year, winning everywhere except to Semenya.

Ajee’ Wilson, who will turn 23 on May 8, had the unfortunate luck of running in a slow Olympic semifinal consisting of all three medalists from last year’s World Indoor in Portland. Wilson earned the silver at Portland but in that fateful Rio semi the other medalists advanced while Wilson was left out of the final.

It was a feeling Wilson had never experienced before, and she has been on a tear ever since. She has yet to lose this year, including an American record indoors of 1:58.27 to win the Millrose Games in New York. Wilson nearly won the 2015 Pre Classic, losing by .05 seconds to a defending world champion as her 1:57.87 at age 19 is still the youngest sub-1:58 time recorded at Hayward Field.

World ranked No. 2 by T&FN in 2014, Wilson is among America’s best-ever on multiple levels. She swept the 2014 U.S. indoor and outdoor titles, the youngest to do so since a 15-year-old Mary Decker in 1974. As a 19-year-old, Wilson was a finalist in the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, where she ran an American Junior record of 1:58.21. Her international experience includes gold medals at the 2012 World Juniors and 2011 World Youth Championships – she is the only American to win either title.

Marina Arzamasova, 29, is the defending world champion, winning gold at Beijing in 2015. An Olympic finalist in Rio, she also earned bronze at the 2014 World Indoor. She is the second-fastest ever from Belarus in this event since dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, when she was just 3. The two-time Olympian earned her first major medal in 2014 at the World Indoor.

Margaret Nyairera Wambui, 21, earned two bronze medals last year, first at the World Indoor then at the Olympics. The latter was Kenya’s first Olympic medal in this event since 2008, when Pamela Jelimo struck gold. She ranked No. 3 in the world last year by T&FN, her first in the top 10. Wambui won the World Junior gold medal at Hayward Field in 2014. Her 400 PR of 51.39 is second best in the field to only Semenya.

Eunice Sum, 28, of Kenya led the T&FN world rankings from 2013-15 and earned three-straight Diamond League crowns in the same seasons. The 2013 world champion earned bronze in 2015. This will be her sixth Pre Classic appearance, winning the 800 in 2015 and setting lifetime bests in two other events – 1500 (4:01.54 in 2014) and 3000 (8:53.12 in 2012).

Melissa Bishop, 28, set the Canadian record of 1:57.02 while being just a foot out of a medal at Rio after being silver medalist at the World Championships in Beijing. She has been ranked No. 4 in the world in each of the last two years by T&FN, the highest by a Canadian since Abby Hoffman—now an IAAF Council member—in 1971.

Joanna Jozwik, 26, is an Olympic finalist who is Poland’s third-fastest ever, but the first finalist since 1980. She ran her PR 1:57.37 in Rio to finish 5th. Jozwik was ranked No. 5 in the world last year by T&FN after No. 8 in 2015, when she also made the World Championships final. Her first-ever sub-2 race earned her a bronze at the 2014 European Championships.

Watch out for Selina Buchel, 25, who won her second European Indoor gold last month in Belgrade. She set the Swiss national record of 1:57.95 in 2015.

The post Lynsey Sharp amongst best-ever Women’s 800m field for Prefontaine Classic appeared first on Fast Running.

The athletes unveiled, include 800m star Caster Semenya, Bahrain’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist, Ruth Jebet, and USA’s Emma Coburn.

The addition of Semenya, Jebet, and Coburn adds to an already world class line up set to take part in the opening Diamond League meeting of 2017.

Rivals Dafne Schippers and Elaine Thompson go head to head in the women’s 200m, and in the men’s 400m, stars LaShawn Merritt and Kirani James will line up.

With Semenya now unveiled, the women’s 800m race sees three Olympic medallists facing off: South Africa’s Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui from Kenya, and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba.

In the women’s 3000m steeplechase, world record holder, and reigning Olympic gold medalist Jebet, will line up against Olympic silver medalist Hyvin Kiyeng, and US record-holder and Olympic Bronze medalist, Emma Coburn.

Quick Doha Athletics facts

• Doha’s first major athletics event was the Doha Grand Prix in 1997.
• In 2010, Doha staged the first-ever IAAF Diamond League fixture.

10 years of Doha Athletics Promo video

Watch the highlights from 10 yrs of amazing athletics in Doha! What will happen this yr? https://t.co/hMDnxfFrsA #DLDoha @Diamond_League ? pic.twitter.com/3eOcGCkK7G

— Doha Diamond League (@dldoha) March 24, 2017

Full 2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar

5 May – Doha, QAT
13 May – Shanghai, CHN
27 May – Eugene, USA
8 Jun – Rome, ITA
15 Jun – Oslo, NOR
18 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
1 Jul – Paris, FRA
6 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
9 Jul – London, GBR
16 Jul – Rabat, MAR
21 Jul – Monaco, MON
20 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
24 Aug – Zurich, SUI
1 Sep – Brussels, BEL

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