Caster Semenya won her first race since being cleared to return to competition after underdoing gender tests, winning the 800m Thursday against a weak field but in front of a supportive crowd at the Lappeenranta Games. The South African won in a time of 2 minutes, 4.22 seconds, almost 10 seconds slower than the national record she set when she won gold at the world championships in Berlin last August in 1:55.45. Semenya, though, was happy with her performance at the low-key meet after a such a long absence. Semenya appeared nervous before the race on a hot and humid night at the Kimpinen Stadium, where the attendance of 4,136 was approximately 1,000 greater than last year's. Mari Jarvenpaa of Finland finished the race second in 2:04.71 and Olha Yekymenko of the Ukraine third in 2:05. Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, said he was happy with the race. Kluft falls short Sweden's Carolina Kluft Thursday failed to reach the minimum qualification requirement for next month's long jump competition at the European Championships. The former Olympic heptathlon champion was roared on by a home crowd in Karlstad, but the 27-year-old's best jump of 6.34m was short of the 6.55m mark required to compete at the July 27-Aug. 1 event in Barcelona. Kluft's only hope of competing in the competition is if she is selected by Swedish coach Stefan Olsson.
