Olympic runner Caster Semenya arrested for speeding
She’s not just quick on her feet.
Two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya was arrested for speeding while driving in South Africa last week and sentenced to 50 hours of community service, the National Prosecuting Authority told The Associated Press in a statement Wednesday.
The 30-year-old South African runner was released on $35 bail.
A second hearing will be held for the three-time 800-meter world champion in August concerning the completion of her community service.
Semenya has had some hiccups in her career in recent years given World Athletics’ polarizing regulations concerning female runners’ natural levels of testosterone.
The sports governing body claims the hormone levels give Semenya and other female runners who fit the bill an unfair advantage over their competitors.
Female runners with naturally high levels of testosterone are barred from competing in races spanning 400 meters to 1 mile at international events. That ruling will be lifted for runners who agree to lower their hormone levels artificially to satisfy a particular threshold.
Semenya’s legal team in February said the runner would continue to push back against the guidelines at the European Court of Human Rights.
The runner lost legal appeals against the rules she has dubbed discriminatory in 2019 in Switzerland at sport’s highest court, and again at the Swiss supreme court last year.
A hearing for Semenya likely won’t occur before the Tokyo Olympics, slated for July after they were postponed last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With News Wire Services
