South African athlete Caster Semenya lived up to her 2016 Olympic Games potential by winning the women’s 800m final in Rio to earn South Africa’s second gold medal of the competition, and Team SA’s tenth in total.

In doing so, Semenya broke the South African national 800m record on Saturday night with a calculated run that saw her winning it with her final 300m sprint to move comfortably ahead of her competitors.

The 25-year-old won South Africa’s fourth track and field medal at the Games in a time of 1:55.28, improving the SA record that she already held by 0.05.

She finished clear of silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, who clocked 1:56.24, and the bronze winner, Kenya’s Margaret Wambui.

Semenya dedicated the medal to her fans, and those who have stood by her in difficult times, with the controversy around the fact that she has hyperandrogenism, which is the presence of increased levels of testosterone, and the potential advantage that the condition could provide.

She has come under international scrutiny and criticism for benefiting from a 2015 Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling, which allowed athletes with hyperandrogenism to compete without taking hormones to suppress their natural production of testosterone.

Speaking following her successful 800m race, Semenya was professional as ever, focusing on the instructions of her coaching team.

“I just want to be a better athlete. The main focus here was just to run a championship. The coaches told me: just focus on running, nothing else,” Semenya told the media after winning her race, according to SuperSport.

“Sport is meant to unite people. I think that’s what we need to keep doing,” she added.

The gold medal brings South Africa’s tally at Rio 2016 to 10, their best medal haul since readmission to sport following apartheid, while equalling the country’s best medal tallies from Antwerp 1920 and Helsinki 1952.

From a total of 306 sets of medals which were available to win throughout 28 Olympic sports, Team South Africa will depart Brazil with 10, which is exactly the tally they were aiming for during the August Games.

Two gold, six silver and two bronze medals for Team SA will be celebrated in South Africa, and the Olympians will no doubt experience a hero’s welcome upon their return to the country.