In what has gotten tongues wagging across the continent, two 18-year-old female runners from Namibia have been disqualified from running in the 400 meters at the Tokyo Olympics after medical tests showed they have high natural testosterone levels.
Recall that the same contentious rules sidelined South Africa’s Caster Semenya.
In a statement obtained by newsmen, the Namibian Olympic committee said the two runners, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, had been withdrawn from the 400.
The nation’s athletics federation said they will now “focus their full attention” on the 200 meters.
It is imperative to note that World Athletics’ testosterone rules only apply to events between 400 meters and one mile.
Reports have it that before this year, both teenagers were relative unknown.
Official records have it that Mboma ran a blistering 48.54 seconds to win a 400 race in Poland, which was an under-20 world record and the seventh-fastest time ever recorded for a woman in the 400. It was also the fastest time in the world this year ahead of all the event’s big names.
On her part, Masilingi’s 49.53 seconds at a low-level meet in Zambia in April stands as the third fastest time of 2021.
The Namibian Olympic committee said the times compelled the World Athletics to conduct “medical assessments” on the two at their current training camp in Italy. The committee said the results indicated that both have high natural testosterone levels.
It said “It is important to understand that both our athletes were not aware of this condition”.
It is important to note that the controversial development is reminiscent of the controversial sex verification tests conducted on a teenage Semenya at the 2009 world championships.
World Athletics’ latest testosterone regulations have been fiercely debated since they were introduced in 2018.
The rules have resulted in Semenya, the two-time Olympic champion in the 800 meters, being unable to run in her favorite event and defend her title in Tokyo. She has launched legal appeals in various courts but has lost two appeals and is waiting for a third to be heard.
Records have it that the rules have also affected two other high-profile African athletes, Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Margaret Wambui of Kenya, who won silver and bronze behind Semenya at the 2016 Olympics. They have both also been sidelined from the 800.
