Caster Semenya Qualifies for London
Thursday, 14 June 2012 – Caster Semenya and Khotso Mokoena competed at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on 13 June and comfortably won in their respective events.
Semenya beat the field in the women’s 600m to win the race in a very fast time. The World Championships silver medallist crossed the finish line in 1:25.56 ahead of former Australian 800m World Indoor Champion Tamsyn Manou and Olympic finalist Tatyana Andrianova (RUS). The two clocked 1:26.28 and 1:30.74 respectively.
Semenya will represent South Africa at her very first Olympic Games taking place in London starting on 3 August.
Mokoena competed in the men’s long jump in windy conditions where he won with a leap of 8.13m with a strong tailwind (2.0m/sec) in the fifth round. The 27 year old from Gauteng North jumped 4.95m in the opening round putting him sixth, but took the lead in the second round with 8.03m. He then followed with 7.99m in the third round and a foul in the fourth before his winning distance in the fifth. He then finished with 7.97m.
Mokoena qualified for the Olympic Games at a Diamond League meeting in Rome on 11 May and is also included in the team for the CAA African Senior Championships where he will be looking to defend his title. The Championships is taking place in Benin from 27 June to 1 July in Porto Novo, Benin.
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