Caster Semenya crushes Dom Scott to wins S. African 5k title

Gr.eat range to be able to win 5k track title over Dominque Scott. You would have to think she could win the 400m in her countries championships. Has there ever been greater range?

Why the heck would Dom Scott, who has run 15:04 for 5000m, let a race against the best 800m runner in the world come down to the final 400m?

race was won in 16:05 (Scott ran 16:13 and led at the bell) which means they were probably running 80 second laps or slower for most of the race. It also means that Semenya put 8 seconds on Scott in the last 400m.

reed wrote:

Why the heck would Dom Scott, who has run 15:04 for 5000m, let a race against the best 800m runner in the world come down to the final 400m?

race was won in 16:05 (Scott ran 16:13 and led at the bell) which means they were probably running 80 second laps or slower for most of the race. It also means that Semenya put 8 seconds on Scott in the last 400m.

The race was at 5315 feet of altitude.

So according to the NCAA conversion, Semenya's time is equivalent to 15:36.48... So it wasn't exactly slow.

reed wrote:

Why the heck would Dom Scott, who has run 15:04 for 5000m, let a race against the best 800m runner in the world come down to the final 400m?

race was won in 16:05 (Scott ran 16:13 and led at the bell) which means they were probably running 80 second laps or slower for most of the race. It also means that Semenya put 8 seconds on Scott in the last 400m.

Run a marathon slow enough and Usain Bolt will win it.

Interesting section below from the ESPN account of the race--she could move up and not have to take any hormone-suppressing medication? She also ran a 4:30 1500m heat before the 5,000m. "The IAAF wants female athletes with differences in sexual development to reduce their blood testosterone level to below a stipulated concentration for a period of six months before they can compete, to prevent any perceived unfair advantage. But this is limited to events ranging between 400m and a mile, and so would not include the 5,000m, leaving Semenya free to compete unhindered in that distance. It does, however, rule out her primary 800m event, as well as the 1,500m race."

rojo wrote:

The race was at 5315 feet of altitude.

So according to the NCAA conversion, Semenya's time is equivalent to 15:36.48... So it wasn't exactly slow.

rojo wrote:

reed wrote:

Why the heck would Dom Scott, who has run 15:04 for 5000m, let a race against the best 800m runner in the world come down to the final 400m?

race was won in 16:05 (Scott ran 16:13 and led at the bell) which means they were probably running 80 second laps or slower for most of the race. It also means that Semenya put 8 seconds on Scott in the last 400m.

The race was at 5315 feet of altitude.

So according to the NCAA conversion, Semenya's time is equivalent to 15:36.48... So it wasn't exactly slow.

Ah that explains it a little more. But still, you would think Dom would run it out of her well before, unless she expected Caster to be nowhere near with a lap to go.

Is this Caster's first 5k? If I were Scott I probably wouldn't have planned for her to be there the last mile either. But she should have adjusted mid race and pinched from far out. 8 seconds is a whopping.

Still slow for Scott. Isn’t she training in the US?

curious2me wrote:

Gr.eat range to be able to win 5k track title over Dominque Scott. You would have to think she could win the 400m in her countries championships. Has there ever been greater range?

Sure. Steve Ovett for one.

ClonedDuck wrote:

Ah that explains it a little more. But still, you would think Dom would run it out of her well before, unless she expected Caster to be nowhere near with a lap to go.

That's what separates the winners from the losers. Caster has balls, Dom hasn't.

Hilarious.

High 49's for a 400 and low 16's for a 5k... Sounds extremely familiar. Like, the PRs of a decent high school XC/track boy.

No woman on Earth has/had a range that even remotely approaches this. Imagine Sydney McL, or even Ajee Wilson, in a 5k. Or how 'bout Hassan in the 400. It would be a disaster.

Caster is not a biological woman. Letting her participate in this race is peak clown world.

Semenya is the goat with that range.

This is no different than an elite male hobby jogger entering female races.

I thought she might try a Kratochvílová and drop down to the 200.

Er... wrote:

Interesting section below from the ESPN account of the race--she could move up and not have to take any hormone-suppressing medication? She also ran a 4:30 1500m heat before the 5,000m.

"The IAAF wants female athletes with differences in sexual development to reduce their blood testosterone level to below a stipulated concentration for a period of six months before they can compete, to prevent any perceived unfair advantage.

But this is limited to events ranging between 400m and a mile, and so would not include the 5,000m, leaving Semenya free to compete unhindered in that distance. It does, however, rule out her primary 800m event, as well as the 1,500m race."

rojo wrote:

The race was at 5315 feet of altitude.

So according to the NCAA conversion, Semenya's time is equivalent to 15:36.48... So it wasn't exactly slow.

bleu wrote:

Still slow for Scott. Isn’t she training in the US?

I think she's training in Crested Butte, Colorado, with Emma Coburn and crew, no? . Altitude there is closer to 8,000ft ...

kleenex for my sniffles wrote:

bleu wrote:

Still slow for Scott. Isn’t she training in the US?

I think she's training in Crested Butte, Colorado, with Emma Coburn and crew, no? . Altitude there is closer to 8,000ft ...

Crested Butte base area (the ski resort base area) is 9800 feet and the trails go up from there. If you are running on trails you are likely spending most of your time at 10,000 feet.

Not a bad race for someone with that much muscle mass.

Actually, with the altitude, Semenya shows mid 15 5000m in this race, with a kick that beat a 15:04 runner by 8 seconds in the last 400m, plus 49/1:54/3:59, easily the greatest range of all time for a woman, although I have often wondered whether some of the taller, thinner female 400m runners could run well up the distance with some training. Semenya thus outsmarts Coe, but don't worry, Coe's secret plan for this eventuality was to cut out the 5000m and 10000m from Diamond League and then World and Olympic events.

Phantasy Star wrote:

Hilarious.

High 49's for a 400 and low 16's for a 5k... Sounds extremely familiar. Like, the PRs of a decent high school XC/track boy.

No woman on Earth has/had a range that even remotely approaches this. Imagine Sydney McL, or even Ajee Wilson, in a 5k. Or how 'bout Hassan in the 400. It would be a disaster.

Caster is not a biological woman. Letting her participate in this race is peak clown world.

Okay, 15:36 for 5,000m on the track would be a relatively good male high school performance. But how many boys hitting that mark also could run 49.6 and 1:54.2? I ran a fair bit faster than that for 5.000m in high school and could only just break 2:00; no clue what my 400m would have been but my guess is ~53-54 at best. She has incredible range. Interestingly, the SA press is referring to her race as "taunting" the IAAF by running so impressively outside the range of events for which they propose testosterone suppression treatment. Scott had a game plan assuming Semenya was going to sit and kick, and was put slightly off her game by the fact that Semenya took the lead and pushed the pace as early as lap 4. Scott took the lead briefly at the bell and then was buried.

what!!!! wrote:

rojo wrote:

So according to the NCAA conversion, Semenya's time is equivalent to 15:36.48... So it wasn't exactly slow.

it puts [Semenya] as a relatively good high school athlete

Many non XX and/or DSD 800 people can run that fast for a 5k.

I saw a top non XX 800 person run low 30's for a 10k, i.e. easily a much faster pace overall.