News :
Semenya goes to the bottom after the veto of the IAAF by testosterone
The South African Caster Semenya, twice Olympic champion and three world champions of 800 and one of those affected by the new IAAF regulations on testosterone levels in athletes, has registered for the 3,000-meter race at the Prefontaine Classic, which will be held at Stanford (USA) on June 30, according to the official website of the competition.
Semenya, the worst brand of the registered
With a modest personal mark of 9: 36.29, the worst of all registered, Semenya will compete with rivals who, like the Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba, have run the 3,000 meters in 8: 16.60. There will also be the Kenyan Hellen Obiri (8: 20.68), the Ethiopian Almaz Ayana (8: 22.22) and the Dutch Sifan Hassan (8: 27.50), among others.
Semenya enjoys a special invitation (wild card) to compete in the American meeting of the Diamond League and, given the circumstances that surround his figure, he will focus the attention of the athletic world despite the superior category of his rivals as long distance runners.
30 unbeaten races in the 800
The South African athlete has 30 races of 800 meters undefeated (she has not lost in this distance since 2015). On May 3, at the Doha meeting that inaugurated the Diamond League, he won with a mark of 1: 54.98 in which it could be his last race in the double return to the track.
Five days later, the IAAF regulations on hyperandrogenism came into force, forcing athletes to take medication to reduce their testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per liter of blood if they want to compete in the female category.
Preparing for the inevitable
In anticipation of an unfavorable ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which in fact occurred, Semenya had begun to adapt over longer distances. At the World Championships in London 2017 he won the bronze medal at 1,500 and this year he won the South African championship of 5,000 with a mark of 16: 05.97 in altitude.
Semenya has only competed three times in the United States, all three in 800 and always in the Prefontaine. He won in 2017 and 2018 (in the latter with the best brand ever achieved in the US, 1: 55.98) and was second in 2011.