This could be it for Caster Semenya and the Olympics. Forced out of her favorite race by World Athletics’ testosterone rules, the two-time Olympic champion in the 800 meters took a late shot at qualifying for Tokyo in the 5,000 meters, an event not affected by the hormone regulations. She came up short.
Now 30, Semenya’s hopes of making it back to the Olympics are dwindling.
The South African once said she wanted to run at top track events until she was 40. Now, her future ambitions depend on a final, long-shot legal appeal of the [COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]testosterone rules or transforming from the world’s dominant middle-distance runner into a successful long-distance athlete. That’s going to be hard for her.
[ATTACH=full]372699[/ATTACH]
Semenya is the athlete that has perhaps stoked the most controversy in track and field over the last decade. If there are no more appearances on the biggest stage, it’s been a career like no other. In 12 years at the top, Semenya has won two Olympic golds and three world championship titles, but her success has come amid near-constant interference by track authorities. She has only competed free of restrictions of one type or another for three of those 12 years.
