Daegu, Korea - Two years after finishing fifth in the Berlin World championships behind Caster Semenya, Maria Savinova got a much closer look as she swept past the South African with 30m to go to claim the 2011 World title in Daegu this evening.
Berlin had been a difficult experience for Savinova. Clearly, it was an important lesson for her because in Daegu, Savinova went virtually into retreat and hardly left her room: “I did not even go into the athletes’ village,” she said, “but stayed in my room watching Russian soaps. I was either training or in my room.”
The lack of distraction worked a treat and when Savinova got out onto the track she was raring to go. But she still saw Semenya as the biggest challenge. “I thought I was running for silver and saw little hope of winning. Semenya looked so toned and ready to win when we lined up for the final.”
As they entered the final straight there only appeared to be one winner, but suddenly something changed. It was noticeable in Savinova’s pace: “Suddenly, I saw there was a chance to win.”