Semenya fails again in 5,000m Olympic qualifying bid

PARIS: South African athlete Caster Semenya missed out again on Saturday in Regensburg, Germany to qualify for the 5,000 metres at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 30-year-old, who is barred from defending her Olympic 800m title, finished fourth in Saturday’s race in a time of 15 minutes 57.12 seconds, more than 47 seconds outside the 15:10 required to compete in Tokyo.

She has previously clocked times of 15:52.28 in Pretoria at an altitude of 1,339 metres (4,393 feet) and 15:32.15 at sea level in Durban.

Semenya has been the Olympic champion twice and world champion three times over 800m, but is barred from competing over that distance by World Athletics’ testosterone-reducing regulations.

Females like Semenya who have unusually high levels of testosterone, which gives them added strength, are prohibited from competing in races between 400m and a mile.

The South African refuses to take medication that would reduce her testosterone level and has twice failed in legal battles to overturn the World Athletics decision.