DOHA, Qatar, May (ANA) - Caster Semenya and Carina Horn produced record-breaking performances in the opening leg of this season's IAAF Diamond League, in Doha, on Friday evening.
Semenya timed her finish to perfection to collect 800 Diamond League points as she won the 1500 metres in three minutes 59.92 seconds to become the first South African woman to dip under four minutes in this event.
Last month, Semenya set the SA record over 1500 metres at 4:00.71 in claiming gold at the Commonwealth Games showpiece event at Australia's Gold Coast.
Benin's Noelie Yarigo took the field through the 800 metres mark in 2:11.05, before Ethiopia's Besu Sado stuck her nose in front at 1200 metres in 3:14.35, but nobody was able to hold off the finishing power of the Olympic champion.
Horn, 29, who sped to a national best of 11.03 over 100 metres at the SA Senior Track and Field Championships in Pretoria in April, turned on the pace to clock a new SA record time of 10.98, which allowed her to be the first SA athlete to ever go under 11 seconds.
Her effort in Doha earned her fifth place, with Ivory Coast's Marie-Josee Talou being the fastest woman on the night in 10.85.
On the triple jump scene, Khotso Mokoena's best effort on the night of 16.92 metres, saw him end in sixth place, with Pedro Pichardo of Cuba winning with a distance of 17.95.
Cornel Fredericks finished fifth in the 400 metres hurdles in 50.03 with the win going to Qatar's Samba Abderrahman (47.57).
Pieter Conradie finished in eighth place in the 400 metres in 46.68, with the victory going to Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas in 43.87.
A total of 17 Olympic and world champions competed in Doha, which played host to this track and field spectacular for the ninth time.
- African News Agency (ANA)
