2018 IN REVIEW:800M WOMEN.For The Third Straight year This Event Was Completely Owned By Caster Semenya.

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five Diamond Leagues, the Commonwealth Games, African Championships and Continental Cup – her average time was 1:55.60, faster than anyone else’s seasonal best, with an average winning margin of 1.67 seconds. What was special with 2018 was that Semenya approached her races much more aggressively than before. In 2016 and 2017 she was normally content to follow until the last bend, relying on her superior finishing strength. But this year Semenya chose to frontrun her races from start to finish.
The effects were immediate and obvious: Compared to 2017 she increased her average winning margin by over a second and she recorded considerably faster times lowering her PB by almost a second to 1:54.25 which moved her up to fourth on the all-time list.
Behind Semenya, it was once more Francine Niyonsaba and Ajeé Wilson taking turns as runners-up in
the major events. Niyonsaba was 3-2 head-to-head versus Wilson and also had a slight advantage timewise (running sub-1:56 twice) while the US runner was second to Semenya in the Diamond League final as well as at the Continental Cup.
Niyonsaba and Wilson had one loss each to the most improved runner of the year, Natoya Goule. The 27-year-old Jamaican came into 2018 with a 1:59.38 PB and no previous international merits. When the summer ended she had improved by over three seconds to 1:56.15 and recorded third-place finishes in the best race of the year --Monaco, with the first seven finishing in under 1:58- as well as in the Diamond League final, the Continental Cup and Commonwealth Games.

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