| Niyonsaba led through 200m in the final in 27.08, and slowed to 57.98, with Wilson next to her and Semenya fifth. The American applied pressure and Niyonsaba had to work hard to stay on top, passing 600m in 1:27.07. Semenya was the only athlete in touch with the leading two. The South African took the lead with just over 50m remaining, and covering her last 100m in 13.54 (quicker than Pierre-Ambroise Bosse’s 14.02 in the London men’s final), she finished with a South African record of 1:55.16. Behind the medallists, Wambui just managed to hold off Bishop for fourth place. For the first time since 1999, all the finalists ran under 1:59. It was Semenya’s 29th successive win at 800m (heats included) since 2015, the year in which the Court of Arbitration for Sport initially declared that any woman with hyperandrogenism were free to compete without undergoing hormone-suppressing treatment. |
