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By Martin Samuel reports from Lappeenranta
Leading lady: Caster Semenya (right) coasts to victory in the 800m
When the arena had all but cleared, Caster Semenya stayed behind, talking.
And as the red and white tape cordons around the area reserved for the many television crews wer e stripped away, she remained, in amiable conversation with fellow athletes, plainly loving every minute of this experience.
She posed for every photograph, signed every autograph, and the little athlete on the gold chain around her neck sparkled in the setting sun. As the apparatus of the Lappeenranta Games in Finland was dismantled around her, Semenya continued giggling and chatting as dusk closed in. She looked happy, truly happy.
Semenya laughed a lot and at one time appeared to be doing a chicken impression, to the amusement of the company. When she was interrupted and spoke at length on her mobile phone, her smile was bright and permanent.
The security team who had guarded her ent rance and protected her from a media scrum at the end of the competition had long knocked off for the night. Semenya was the last athlete to leave the Limpinen stadium (aside from two statuesque female high jumpers who took down the advertising hoardings and loaded them into a blue rental van) and when she did one-and-a-quarter hours had passed since she had crossed the finishing line.
he did so in first place, as expected, but without incurring further controversy. Semenya's 2min 4.22sec over 800 metres was very respectable for an athlete returning from 11 months without elite competition, but it was almost nine seconds off her finish at the World Championships in Berlin last August, the night her name became synonymous with gender politics and an ethical issue that has confounded athletics.
She looked as if she can run faster, and a time nearer two minutes is predicted for her next event, on Sunday, in Lapinlahti, a tiny town, population 7,544, in the province of Eastern Finland.
Next Monday, according to Michael Seme, her coach, Semenya's fitness programme will begin in earnest with the ultimate goal of winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Whether she will last until then without an unkind word or a doubt raised by a rival is another matter
Mari Jarvenpaa, drawn in the next lane here and second in the race, gave Semenya fascinated looks before the gun, but after the event was all charm.
'It is nice she can concentrate on competing because it has been big pressure for her,' she said. 'People should let her run now. Maybe someone will say something against her, I don't know. If this was World Championship year I think someone would, but perhaps she has one year to run without that happening.'
Happy days: Caster Semenya is surrounded by fans after her first race since the Berlin World Championships
The uncertain reaction explained Semenya's edgy demeanour prior to the grand unveiling. She sat in a tent in a remote part of the stadium grounds, surrounded by spindly pine trees, passers-by peering in as if she was an exhibit. When she emerged she looked tense, marching briskly to the athletes' entrance and seeking refuge in track's inner circle.
There was no great celebration of her name, just muted, respectful applause. There was not the energy that surrounded the return of Tiger Woods at Augusta.
The race itself went to plan against an ordinary field. Caroline Chepkwony, from Kenya, led at the half-way stage but Semenya was on her shoulder and passed comfortably.
She won the race going away, seemingly with much in reserve. She said the more she ran the less nervous she felt.
What did she look like? Some said her shape was less masculine than in Berlin, but she was still more physically powerful than the others. Then again, someone had to be. There will be doctors and lawyers who know what criteria have been satisfied to allow Semenya to compete again, and the observation of the naked eye is redundant.
A cynic would look at a blonde, blue-eyed competitor such as Jarvenpaa and claim she possesses greater femininity, but using an equally crude method of appraisal, Semenya has a bigger bust. So what do looks prove?
Observed, Semenya does have male characteristics but so do a lot of tomboys. She looked one of the lads as she interacted with the male athletes after the race, but her face is quite soft when she smiles. In this case, more than any other, it is what's inside that matters, and now the IAAF are satisfied, Semenya's status in women's sport is unquestionable.
Back on track: Caster Semenya looked nervous on the start line
'I was nervous because it has been a long time not competing,' Semenya said. 'To come here was hard, but immediately the gun fired I felt a little better, and as it went on I became more and more comfortable just doing my thing.
'I could never quit because running is running. It is normal for me, what I have been doing for years. It feels good. I'm not going to say I feel bitter about what happened because I had to forget it. This must be a new beginning.
It was just good to come back.' It is worth pointing out that she said this in an open, if ad hoc, press conference, it having been initially decided she would only take prepared questions, submitted in advance, from a mediator. Seme said that on arrival in Finland, Semenya had been spooked by the presence of a lone photographer at the airport, so to willingly face cameras, tape recorders and microphones was a giant step.
Her manager, Jukka Harkonen, remained discreetly in the background just in case the line of inquisition strayed into the painful or personal, but intervention was not required.
'It will be different now,' he said. 'The main thing was just to open the season.'
Next to him, Semenya smiled. She looked, in that moment, like any other teenager; and if that is how she is treated right now, it will be perhaps the greatest victory of all.
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