Athletics
Semenya to skip junior champs
2010-07-07 11:20
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Johannesburg - Caster Semenya’s coach says the world 800m champion will not compete at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada later this month.
Semenya, who was given the green light to compete against women on Tuesday after an 11-month hiatus from the sport, will run a 600m time trial in Pretoria on Wednesday morning in an effort to qualify for the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi at the end of July.
The global junior showpiece will be held between July 19-25, while the five-day continental senior championships start on July 28.
“Caster hasn’t done any speedwork in training, so she is not fit enough to take part in the junior championships,” Michael Seme said.
“She hasn’t raced in 11 months, and she’s really just been jogging in training, so it will be very difficult for her to run well in a championship race so soon after such a long break.” Seme, a selector for the national junior team, said he was confident the 19-year-old would have enough time sharpen up for the continental senior championships with three weeks to go.
“If we had one more week to get ready for the World Junior Championships she probably would have raced there, but we prefer the African Championships because there is a little more time to prepare.” Seme said his charge would probably compete in one meeting on the European track and field circuit before the biennial continental championships.