Triple World and double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya has been confirmed as one of the headline star due to compete at the Müller Grand Prix in Birmingham.
The South African star will compete over 1500m at the Alexander Stadium, with her presence sure to excite the legion of fans that she has built in the UK following her successes at both London 2012’s Olympic Games and last summer’s IAAF World Championships in the same city.
Having established her status as the 800m athlete to beat following three successive world titles and back to back Olympic golds over the distance, Semenya’s outing in Birmingham over 1500m - a distance which she has claimed world bronze and Commonwealth gold in the past 12 months - will see her have one eye on breaking her own South African record time of 3:59.92 set earlier this year in Doha.
27-year-old Semenya said: “It has been such an amazing 12 months for me and I cannot wait to continue it by competing back in the UK again and in Birmingham for the first time ever. It is rare that I get to race somewhere for the first time, so that in particular is really exciting and will motivate me to perform very well in what I know will be a great, great race.”
In an exciting 1500m race Caster will be up against the Netherlands’ five-time World Championship medallist Sifan Hassan who impressively won the inaugural Millicent Fawcett mile in London less than two weeks ago in a time of 4:14.71, the fourth quickest women’s mile time in history, and is sure to relish returning to Birmingham having set Dutch records on her previous two outings in the city.
Also set to be present is Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay - who carries extraordinary range with sub-2:00, sub-4:00 and sub-15:00 minute personal best times for 800m, 1500m and 5000m respectively, while Kenyan World Championship finalists Winny Chebet, and Britain’s Laura Weightman are joined by 2017 European indoor finalist, and fellow-Brit Sarah McDonald.
British Athletics’ Major Events Director, Cherry Alexander said: “We’re delighted to have Caster racing in Birmingham and are very much looking forward to welcoming her to Birmingham for the very first time.
One of the most pleasing things we hear from overseas athletes come from them speaking about the warmth of the UK crowds and how strong a reception they receive, and I know that Caster will be sure of just that in Birmingham.
Having Caster present in the race alongside fellow world-class names such as Sifan and Laura means we are in for a fantastic spectacle. The fields are really coming together across the board and will be some of the strongest we have ever assembled, so the meeting will give the athletics-loving crowd another preview of the amazing action we are sure to see come 2022’s Commonwealth Games in the city.”
At the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham, on Saturday August 18, Caster Semenya will be join global stars Greg Rutherford, Luvo Manyonga and Juan Miguel Echevarria.
