Semenya switches to 200m in Tokyo Olympics bid

Record ID: 1463978

  • Title: Semenya switches to 200m in Tokyo Olympics bid
  • Date: 14th March 2020
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - DECEMBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS) OLYMPIC RINGS OUTSIDE THE NATIONAL STADIUM
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2020 13:41
  • Keywords: 200 metres Caster Sementa Olympic Games athletics testosterone
  • Location: GERMISTON, SOUTH AFRICA/ TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City: GERMISTON, SOUTH AFRICA/ TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Olympics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA002C50X7I7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South African middle distance athlete Caster Semenya is aiming to run in the 200 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, competing over a distance that would allow her to avoid World Athletics regulations limiting her testosterone levels.
    Semenya is a double Olympic gold medallist in the 800 metres but, as an athlete with differences in sexual development (DSD), is bound by regulations limiting normal levels of testosterone in competitors racing in events ranging from 400m to a mile.
    "My dream has always been, and will continue to be, to compete at the highest level of sport," Semenya, 29, said in a statement.
    "And so in order to pursue my goals and dreams, I have decided to change events and compete in the 200 metres."
    Semenya had been seen training with sprint start blocks in recent weeks, leading to speculation she would look to reinvent herself over a shorter distance.
    But she must still earn her place in Tokyo and, with a personal best of 24.26 seconds in the 200m set in Feb. 2019, is some way off the Olympic qualifying time of 22.80.
    Semenya is appealing to the Swiss Federal Tribunal against a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that supported regulations introduced by the sport’s governing body, World Athletics.
    CAS is based in Lausanne and comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland's highest court.
    A ruling is expected in the first half of this year which could take her close to the July 24 start of the Olympics.
    Semenya won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, but has split opinion in the sport over her refusal to submit to the World Athletics regulations.
    She has garnered support from many people who see the rules as a human rights violation, while others feel she has an unfair natural advantage that does not produce a level playing field.
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