Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, the 2016 Olympic 800m silver medalist who cannot race that distance anymore unless she takes testosterone-suppressing measures, ran an Olympic qualifying time in a different event, the 5000m, on Tuesday.
Niyonsaba clocked 14:54.38 at a meet in Montreuil, France, easily clearing the Olympic standard of 15:10.
No other woman from Burundi has ever run 15:10, according to World Athletics. A nation can qualify no more than three athletes to the Games in track and field events.
All three of the Rio Olympic 800m medalists — Caster Semenya, Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui — said they are impacted by a rule instituted in 2019 that caps testosterone levels in women’s events from 400m through the mile for athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD).