Semenya outshone on Diamond debut

South Africa's reigning 800m world champion Caster Semenya could only finish third in her debut on the Diamond League series.

Semenya was racing in only her fourth outing since returning from 11 months on the sidelines following a controversial investigation by IAAF, the sport's governing body, into her gender.

The 19-year-old dropped immediately into last spot in the field and still had six runners ahead of her at 200m.

Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei dominated the race and won in 1min 58.82sec, with Russian Mariya Savinova coming home in second.

Semenya produced a spurt for third with a season's best of 1:59.65, a way off the 1:55.45 time that won her the world title last year.

'The race was very tactical but also very quick,' Semenya said.

I was never up there with the leaders.'

Semenya's agent Jukka Haerkoenen added that the runner had been happy with the reception she received from the 47,000 spectators at the Roi Baudouin stadium.

'This is the first time she's run in Brussels and she is very pleased with the enthusiasm of the crowd,' he said.

'She ran a little bit faster than in Berlin and it was a very competitive race.'

Since her comeback, the South African easily won two minor races in Finland and also claimed first place at last weekend's World Challenge meet in Berlin, clocking a time of 1:59.90.

The furore over Semenya's sexuality first erupted after she lowered her personal best in the 800m by more than four seconds at the African Junior Championships, weeks before the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Semenya, whose muscular physique and deep voice also drew questions about her gender, went on to lower her personal best in winning gold in the German capital, destroying the field in the process.

But it was leaked after her victory there that she was a hermaphrodite, an incident that sparked anger from the South African public and government, who have rallied behind the athlete.

After 11 months on the sidelines for sex tests, Semenya reached a settlement that was the result of protracted negotiations between medical teams of the IAAF and the runner's own team, presided over by an international mediator.

Terms of the agreement have remained confidential.

Her next major outing will be at October's Commonwealth Games in India.