The 19-year-old South African won the 800m at the Lappeenranta Games in Finland in 2min 04.22sec, almost ten seconds slower than the time which won her a controversial gold in Berlin last summer.

But Semenya, whose rapid improvements over the distance last year prompted queries over her gender, was happy with her time after an 11-month absence from competition.

"To come and run a 2:04 is not easy, especially after what happened," said Semenya, who ran away down the home straight to an easy win.

"I was a little bit nervous because it has been a long time not competing.

"It's a new beginning."

Following the completion of their testing procedure, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) cleared Semenya to compete again last Tuesday (July 7).

Despite the massive media interest that the controversy has provoked, Semenya commented after her latest race: "Maybe it was good for me to rest after I ran my fastest time last year.

"I'm still young, the muscles are still developing, so yeah, I can run faster than that."

She told the crowd: "It was not easy to come here to compete, but I’m quite satisfied with my result today.

"I took the pace quite early before the finishing line, because I wanted to run a better time after the slow first lap, and 2:04 was just what I was looking for."

Semenya, who will race again in Finland on Sunday (July 18) at the Lapinlahti Games, is hoping to compete in October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi where she could face Britain's Jenny Meadows, who won bronze behind her in Berlin.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
July 2010: Semenya to concentrate on Commonwealth Games
July 2010: Semenya in new row after gender doubts lifted
July 2010: Semenya cleared to run again after a year's investigation into gender
June 2010: Semenya still in limbo after press conference cancelled
April 2010: Semenya claims she will return to track in June