KweséESPN Staff 7y

Semenya shows her class at Olso Bislett Games

South Africa's superstar Caster Semenya continued her good form ahead of the IAAF World Championships when she dominated the field to win the women's 800m at the Oslo Bislett Games on Thursday night.

The 26-year-old Olympic champion beat a strong Diamond League field, holding off the challenges of Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Kenya's Margaret Wambui.

Semenya ran a patient race, and only made her move after Niyonsaba tried to sprint away from the field in the second lap. The South African, renowned for her finishing kick, caught the Burundian athlete with about 200m to go and then sprinted clear to finish in 1:57.59.

Niyonsaba ran a season's best time of 1:58.18, while Wambui clocked 1:59.17.

Africans also dominated the women's 3000m-steeplechase race. Kenya's Norah Jeruto won the event in 9:17.27, ahead of Ethiopia's Sophia Assefa, while Fabienne Schlumph of Switzerland was third.

Ivory Coast sprinter Murielle Ahouré ran a season's best to finish second in the women's 200m. The Netherlands' Dafne Schippers (22.31) won the race, but the Ivorian ran a wonderful race to finish in 22.47 ahead of Jamaican athlete Simone Facey.

In other women's results, Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor finished sixth in the women's long jump.

Britain's Jake Wightman scored the biggest upset of the night when he produced a personal-best performance to win the men's 1500m.

Wightman ran a time of 3:34.17 to beat Kenya's Elijah Manangoi, the 2015 world silver medallist. Marcin Lewandowski of Poland was third and Norway's Filip Ingebrigsten was fourth. Kenya's Silas Kiplagat could only manage a seventh place.

Botswana's Baboloki Thebe continued his impressive showing in the Diamond League when he won the 400m race in 44.95. South African Pieter Conradie was sixth in 46.16.

Ivory Coast's Ben Youssef Meite finish third in the men's 100m in 10.03. Canadian ace Andre de Grasse took maximum points on the night with a win in 10.01, while Britian's Chijindu Ujah, who has Nigerian anchestors, was second.

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