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Caster Semenya wins 2,000m race in Paris

By Vincent Ashitey
Caster Semenya wins 2,000m race in Paris
Caster Semenya wins 2,000m race in Paris
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Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya cruised to victory over 2,000m at the Meeting de Montreuil in France – her first race since filing an appeal against the IAAF's ruling to restrict testosterone levels in female runners.

Semenya, 28, finished in five minutes 38.19 seconds ahead of Ethiopia's Hawi Feysa and Adanech Anbesa in Paris.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruling means she may have to change from her favoured 800m.

"I am a talented athlete, I am not worried about anything," she said.

"I can run any event I want. It can be 100m, 200m, the long jump, heptathlon, you name it."

The double Olympic and three-time world champion added: "Even if I have to withdraw from the 800m, it doesn't matter no more, I think I have won everything I ever wanted.

"I am not an idiot, why would I take drugs? I am a pure athlete, not a cheat. They should focus on doping not us."

APPEAL

The South African is appealing to Switzerland's Federal Supreme Court after losing her case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month.

That new rule would require her to take testosterone-reducing medicine to compete at distances between 800m and a mile or change to another distance.

On Monday, Semenya was named in South Africa's preliminary squad for the World Championships in Doha later this year to compete at 800m – but her inclusion depends on the outcome of her appeal.

Last week the Swiss court suspended the IAAF's ruling, allowing her to temporarily compete without taking testosterone-reducing medicine.

The IAAF says it will seek a "swift reversal" of the SFT's decision.

The court's "superprovisional order" will also only apply until 25 June – the date by which the IAAF must respond to the court on Semenya's case.

The World Championships will take place from September 28 to October 6, 2019.

Semenya is set to race in the 3,000m at the Prefontaine Classic in Stanford, California on June 30, 2019.

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Source: theeastafrican.co.ke