Semenya Ditches 800m for 3,000m Race to Avoid Being Forced to Lower Her Testosterone Levels

South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya appears to have ditched the 800m race to avoid being forced to reduce her testosterone levels.

The double 800m Olympic Champion will compete in the 3,000 meters race at the Diamond League’s Prefontaine Classic in Stanford, California on June 30th.

The 28-year-old has been adamant she will not take drugs to lower her testosterone levels to comply with new International Associations of Athletics Federation (IAAF) rules, which took effect this month.

This will be her first race since the new rules went into effect on May 8th.

The new regulations require female athletes with high natural levels of testosterone wishing to participate in events from 400m to a mile to medically lower that level to under 5 nmol/L.

On May 1st, Semenya lost her appeal against the new rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In its ruling, CAS stated that the regulations were necessary to ensure fair competition.

Semenya will lock horns with world 5,000-metres champion Hellen Obiri, 2016 world indoor 1,500-metres champion Sifan Hassan, and 2018 world indoor 1,500 and 3,000-metres champion Genzebe Dibaba in California.

“It was a request from Caster Semenya’s agent asking if she could run a 3,000,” meet director Tom Jordan told Reuters. “Of course we said yes.”