Semenya happy after winning return in Finland

Posted: Thursday 15th July 2010 | 20:36

THE surroundings couldn't have been more different to her last appearance on the track but Caster Semenya's high-profile return to athletics at a low-key meeting in Finland got off to a winning start.

The world 800m champion admitted she was out of shape after her controversial 11 month absence from the sport but she won with ease, clocking 2.04.22.

Lappeenranta's Elite Athletic Games had never previously - and unlikely never will again - enjoyed the undivided attention of the track and field world.

Semenya might have hoped that choosing a venue 30km from the Russian border and 150km east of Helsinki would mean limited media attention - but scores of journalists and camera crews from around the world were in attendance.

And they will likely be back again for her next race, with the 19-year-old is scheduled to compete in Lapinlahti on Sunday, before returning to South Africa.

"It is not easy to come and run 2:04 while you stayed for 11 months at home, so yeah, I am pretty happy with the performance," said Semenya, in an interview with the Finnish broadcaster YLE.

"The more I race the better I will get."

Semenya's victory earned her the princely sum of £500 but it also underlined her determination to return to the sport, with this month's African Championships and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi her main targets.

However, the winning time was well off the 1:55.45 she recorded in Berlin, her last race before the International Association of Athletics Federations moved to resolve questions surrounding her gender that overshadowed their showpiece event last year.