Caster Semenya, back with a win, refuses to be bitter

The South African runner Caster Semenya has won her first race since being cleared to return to athletics after a gender testing controversy. She cruised to victory in the women's 800m at the Lappeenranta Games in Finland.

However, her time of 2 min 4.22 sec was nine seconds slower than the personal best which won her gold at the World Championships in Germany last year. Her speed that day led to her being suspended and set in train the long saga of gender testing.
 
But she said she was happy with her time yesterday: "It's better to run. It was nice to come back. It is a new beginning actually."
 
Semenya won £500 for her win and will stay on in Finland to run in the Lapinlahti Games on Sunday, before deciding whether to take up an offer to run at next month’s London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace. She is also hoping to run in October’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
 
Still only 19 years old, Semenya, who is thought to have had hormone treatment before she was cleared to run by International Association of Athletics Federations last week, seems remarkably philosophical about her nine months’ enforced absence from running, saying she is not bitter.
 
"Maybe it was good for me to rest after I ran my fastest time last year," she said. "I'm still young, the muscles are still developing, so yeah, I can run faster than that." ·