Caster lines up as dark horse

Johannesburg - World 800m champion Caster Semenya will toe the line as the favourite to win against a week field at a low-key meeting in Finland on Thursday in her first race since winning the global title in Berlin last August.

The 19-year-old was given the green light by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to run against women last week, bringing an end to an 11-month probe into her gender that kept her off the track.

It has been widely speculated that Semenya underwent medical treatment during the last year, and there are questions over whether or not she will be able to reach the heights she climbed in the past.

Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, has admitted she is "unfit" because she has done little speedwork in training and will need time to sharpen up, which was confirmed by her results in two 600m time trials last week.

Seme, however, remains confident she will be able to produce fast times again, once she has a few races under her belt.

The day after the IAAF announced she had been cleared, Athletics South Africa (ASA) requested a fitness test, and after Semenya clocked poor times of 1:35 and 1:35, she was omitted from the team named on Sunday for the African Athletics Championships at the end of July. Instead, she will focus on preparing for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India in October.

And while Semenya hasn't raced in 11 months, and will toe the line as a dark horse, she won't need to be in top form to topple a mediocre field at the Lappeenranta Games.

The teenager is the 13th fastest woman in history, having won the world title in 1:55.45 last year, and the rest of the field should struggle if the South African is anywhere near her best.

None of the other 17 women included in the entry lists (the race is likely to be split into A and B divisions) have broken the two-minute barrier in their careers.

Olga Yekimenko of the Ukraine is the fastest in the field this year, having clocked 2:03.33 in Prague last month -- almost eight seconds slower than Semenya's personal best.

Two other South Africans will also be in action at the event, including long jump sensation Luvo Manyonga.

The 19-year-old leaped 8.19m in Bottrop, Germany last week, improving the national junior record set by Olympic long jump silver medallist Khotso Mokoena (8.09m) at the World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy in 2004. The distance also improved the African junior record held by Ignisious Gaisah of Ghana (8.12m) since 2002.

Manyonga will look to go even better in Finland, facing a strong field with five of the 10 men having jumped over 8m this season, on the eve of next week's World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada.

National champion Cornel Fredericks is the fastest in the field this year in the men's 400m hurdles, having set a personal best of 49.12 seconds in Germiston in April. The next best in the line-up is Japan's Yuta Imazeki who clocked 49.77 in Osaka in May.