Caster breaks Zola Budd’s 1984 1,500m national record

11 April 2018 - 08:00 By David Isaacson
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Caster Semenya during her momentous 1,500m final at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on Tuesday.
Caster Semenya during her momentous 1,500m final at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on Tuesday.
Image: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images

Caster Semenya finally broke Zola Budd’s 1‚500m national record as she landed South Africa’s ninth gold of the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.

Semenya‚ the Olympic and world 800m champion‚ set herself up for a golden double after winning the 1‚500m in a 4min 00.71sec Games record that knocked more than a second off Budd’s 4:01.81 record set up in Port Elizabeth on March 21 1984.

“Actually I knew in the last lap the record is gone‚ I just have to maintain the pace‚” said Semenya‚ adding she would break four minutes before the end of season.

“I know I’m able to go under four minutes now so I don’t have to worry a lot about that now in training. I just have to fix some errors‚ I just need a bit of speed there now.”

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