By Sierra Webster
Caster Semenya of South Africa, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 800 meters, came into the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday hoping to clinch her 13th consecutive 800-meter victory since 2015.
Semenya was joined in the 800 by fellow Olympic medalists Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Nyairera Wambui, who took silver and bronze, respectively, behind her in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Semenya’s streak remained unbroken on Saturday as she crossed the finish line in 1 minute, 57.78 seconds, only 0.10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
“It’s pretty good, you know, going with a strip like that,” Semenya said. “But, if you ask me, it’s all about being healthy and consistent in the races we run.”
This is just one of many races on Semenya’s road to the world championships later this year in London.
“The main goal is to win every race that we run—it motivates us into approaching the world champs,” she said. “We’re happy with the win, but it doesn’t mean gold.”
Olympic silver medalist Niyonsaba had missed the first Diamond League women’s 800-meter meet in Doha, Qatar, because of a canceled flight. In Niyonsaba’s absence at that meet, Wambui stepped up and secured the second-place finish behind Semenya.
And again at the Pre Classic, Wambui finished 0.10 seconds behind Semenya to claim second place at 1:57.88.
Niyonsaba, who trains with Oregon Track Club Elite based in Eugene, finished third at 1:59.10, a whole 1.22 seconds behind Wambui. She had hoped to perform better in front of her home crowd and was disappointed when she didn’t finish second.
“I’m not happy because I’m home but I wanted to win,” she said. “But I didn’t.”
Semenya enjoys the competition between herself, Wambui and Niyonsaba and hopes to see them in future races.
“They are really good runners—I enjoy running with them,” she said. “I just hope that we can do that for quite a long time.”
