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South African athlete Caster Semenya smashed the Commonwealth Games record to win a gold medal in the women’s 1500m race in a blistering time of 4:00.71

JOHANNESBURG – South African athlete Caster Semenya smashed the Commonwealth Games record to win a gold medal in the women’s 1500m race in a blistering time of 4:00.71

Semenya paced herself and sat just behind Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech (4:03.09) but kicked into gear down the final bend to win the race. In the process, Semenya set a personal best and a new national record.

Team South Africa has now collected nine gold medals along with six silver and six bronze medals in their overall tally of 21 medals.

Semenya also broke legendary athlete Zola Budd’s 34-year-old South African record set in 1984. After the race, Semenya said that she knew she was in line to break the Commonwealth Games record.

“I knew when I got to the 800m mark and the time was 2:08.00 and thought I must just wait for the last 250m and I just had to maintain the pace.”