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+---- Thread: Semenya and Coertzen to start Olympic campaigns (/Thread-Semenya-and-Coertzen-to-start-Olympic-campaigns)
Semenya and Coertzen to start Olympic campaigns - TheEd - 08-08-2012
Wednesday, 8 August 2012 - Caster Semenya and Willem Coertzen will start their Olympic campaigns today in London, while semi-finalists, Lehann Fourie and Anaso Jobodwana, will strive to make the finals of their respective events.
The 21 year-old Semenya will most likely not have a lot of difficulty proceeding to the semi-final in her event. Rose Almanza (CUB) and Alysia Montano (USA) are the only other athletes in heat 1 who have recorded times under 2 minutes this season. Almanza was timed at 1:59.55, while Montanoââ¬â¢s best is 1:57.37. Semenya has run two races under two minutes this season, one in Pretoria on 20 April and again on 6 July in Germany. Her times were 1:59.58 and 1:59.18 respectively. Semenya will be in action at 12:35.
Semenya recently changed coaches and appointed Maria Mutola, a former Olympic 800m champion from Mozambique, in order to achieve the best at the Olympic Games.
Willem Coertzen will make his Olympic debut in the gruelling decathlon, a competition that stretches over two days, consisting of 10 disciplines. He will face a tough field which includes the World Record holder, Ashton Eaton. This American decathlete set the record at the US Olympic trials in Oregon only last month.
Day one will comprised the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m, followed by the 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m on the second day of the contest.
Coertzen currently holds the South African record of 8244 points, after winning the National Championships in Port Elizabeth on 14 April.
Anaso Jobodwana and Lehann Fourie will compete in their respective semi-finals tonight. Jobodwana will be in action at 21:10 in the 200m and Fourieââ¬â¢s 110 m hurdles semi-final will take place at 20:15, followed by the final at 22:15.