Namibia’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) said that the one-lap sensation Christine Mboma is barred from Tokyo Olympics over testosterone levels. She ran the seventh fastest women’s one-lap time in history when she checked 48.54 seconds in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz on Wednesday. The NOC said that she and her compatriot Beatrice Masilingi had been tested at a training camp in Italy.
They said, “The results from the testing centre indicated that both athletes have a naturally high testosterone level. It is important to understand that both our athletes were not aware of this condition.” Along with them, their coach was also not familiar. World Athletics prohibits that women with high levels of testosterone, which gives them added strength, from competing in races between 400m and a mile unless they undergo treatment to reduce the levels. Similarly, South African Olympic champion Caster Semenya will be barred from defending her 800m title in Tokyo Olympics.
Both Mboma and Masilingi will still be able to participate in the 200m at the Olympics, however, their best times in the event do not currently put them in contention for a medal. Tokyo Olympics is starting from July 23 till August 5. Tokyo will host the event with an allowance of 10,000 fans in every venue.
