Caster Semenya (AFP)

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Johannesburg - World 800m champion Caster Semenya silenced her critics with a comfortable victory at the Istaf meeting in Berlin on Sunday, winning easily in 1:59.90.

Semenya, cleared to run against women by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) last month, improved her season's best by 2.51 seconds.

Questions were raised about her ability after winning two low key races in Finland last month, with wide speculation that she had undergone medical treatment after an 11-month probe into her gender had kept her off the track.

And while the 19-year-old was more than four seconds off the 1:55.45 South African record she set in winning the world title at the same Olympic Stadium a year ago, Semenya proved she was still capable of challenging the best in the world.

It was a good day for the two-lap specialists in Berlin, with Kenyan sensation David Rudisha clocking 1:41.09 to break the 13-year-old world record of 1:41.11 held by Denmark's Wilson Kipketer.

Results from Berlin (WR denotes world record):

Men

100m 1. Nesta Carter (Jamaica) 9.96secs 2. Mario Forsythe (Jamaica) 10.11 3. Richard Thompson (Trinidad and Tobago) 10.18
400m 1. Jermaine Gonzales (Jamaica) 44.90secs 2. Nery Brenes (Costa Rica) 45.47 3. Kevin Borlee (Belgium) 45.64
800m 1. David Lekuta Rudisha (Kenya) 1min 41.09secs WR 2. Boaz Kiplagat Lalang (Kenya) 1:44.34 3. Abraham Kiplagat (Kenya) 1:44.49
1500m 1. Silas Kiplagat (Kenya) 3mins 30.61secs 2. Mekonnen Gebremedhin (Ethiopia) 3:31.57 3. Augustine Choge (Kenya) 3:31.81
3000m 1. Tariku Bekele (Ethiopia) 7mins 28.99secs 2. Vincent Kiprop Chepkok (Kenya) 7:31.41 3. Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (Kenya) 7:33.21
110m Hurdles 1. Ryan Wilson (U.S.) 13.27secs 2. Andy Turner (Britain) 13.30 3. William Sharman (Britain) 13.44
Long jump 1. Christian Reif (Germany) 8.06m 2. Salim Sdiri (France) 7.99 3. Sebastian Bayer (Germany) 7.98
Pole vault 1. Giuseppe Gibilisco (Italy) 5.71m 2. Lukasz Michalski (Poland) 5.61 3. Giovanni Lanaro (Mexico) 5.61
Shot put 1. Reese Hoffa (U.S.) 21.29m 2. Tomasz Majewski (Poland) 21.26 3. Ralf Bartels (Germany) 20.73
Discus throw 1. Robert Harting (Germany) 68.24m 2. Benn Harradine (Australia) 64.46 3. Frank Casanas (Spain) 64.36

Women

100m 1. Sherone Simpson (Jamaica) 11.09secs 2. Kelly-Ann Baptiste (Trinidad and Tobago) 11.14 3. Verena Sailer (Germany) 11.24
400m 1. Debbie Dunn (U.S.) 50.56secs 2. Kaliese Spencer (Jamaica) 50.64 3. Shericka Williams (Jamaica) 50.85
800m 1. Caster Semenya (South Africa) 1mins 59.90secs 2. Cherono Koech (Kenya) 2:00.40 3. Elisa Cusma Piccione (Italy) 2:00.44
100m hurdles 1. Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Canada) 12.57secs 2. Perdita Felicien (Canada) 12.71 3. Carolin Nytra (Germany) 12.75
High jump 1. Ariane Friedrich (Germany) 1.97m 2. Antonietta Di Martino (Italy) 1.97 3. Ruth Beitia (Spain) 1.93
Javelin throw 1. Christina Obergfoell (Germany) 67.57m 2. Linda Stahl (Germany) 61.82 3. Kara Patterson (U.S.) 60.97