Semenya defiant after sweeping to double

14 Apr, 2018

South Africa's Caster Semenya shrugged off controversy over her right to compete after completing a Commonwealth Games double with victory in the women's 800 metres on Friday. The 27-year-old, who identifies as a woman but has elevated testosterone levels, dedicated her gold medal to the late Winnie Mandela after her crushing win.
Elsewhere on the Gold Coast, English tabloid darling Tom Daley captured diving gold before weighing in on gay rights, while 15-year-old shooter Anish Bhanwala became India's youngest ever Commonwealth champion. At the athletics, England's Katarina Johnson-Thompson won heptathlon gold, but New Zealand's Valerie Adams failed to take a fourth straight shot put crown, the mighty Kiwi settling for silver.
Semenya, who won the 1,500m title earlier this week, smashed her rivals once again to clock a Games record of one minute, 56.68 seconds. After the race, she revealed how anti-apartheid hero Mandela, who died two weeks ago after a long illness, had helped her through adversity. However, Olympic and world steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto led a Kenyan medals sweep in the 3,000m steeplechase with a Games record of 8:10.08, as world silver medallist Joshua Cheptegei won the men's 10,000m in a Commonwealth best 27:19.62 to complete a long-distance double. Meanwhile, Canada's Alysha Newman upset New Zealand's Olympic bronze medallist Eliza McCartney to win the women's pole vault.

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