South African athlete Caster Semenya says she is switching events to the 200 metres in a bid to run at this year's Tokyo Olympics.

Key points: South African athlete Caster Semenya has won two Olympic Games and three world titles over 800m, but she has not competed at the distance since May last year

South African athlete Caster Semenya has won two Olympic Games and three world titles over 800m, but she has not competed at the distance since May last year Semenya is appealing against IAAF rules that say middle-distance athletes with high testosterone levels must take medication to reduce it

Semenya is appealing against IAAF rules that say middle-distance athletes with high testosterone levels must take medication to reduce it Her other option is to change events to sprint distances like the 100m and 200m in order to continue competing

The two-time Olympic 800m champion is barred from competing in top-level events from 400m to the mile unless she undergoes treatment to reduce her natural testosterone levels.

Semenya announced her decision to change events on her Instagram account on Friday.

Semenya said her decision was driven by a desire "to compete at the highest level of sport".

"This decision has not been an easy one but, as always, I look forward to the challenge and will work hard, doing all I can to qualify for Tokyo and compete to the best of my ability for South Africa," she said.

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Semenya needs to improve her personal best over 200m by nearly two seconds to qualify for the Tokyo Games.

Her best is 24.26 seconds, set in South Africa in February 2019. The Olympic qualifying standard is 22.80 seconds.

Semenya's decision to try out the 200m may signal she has given up on her legal challenge against World Athletics' testosterone regulations for athletes with differences of sex development.

Semenya's second appeal against regulations forcing her and other female athletes with naturally high levels of testosterone to reduce them to be eligible to compete is being considered by the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

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A ruling in that appeal is due in coming weeks. She failed last year in an appeal against the regulations at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

South African runner Caster Semenya (L) failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against new testosterone rules for the IAAF. ( AP/Keystone: Laurent Gillieron )

The 29-year-old Semenya was born with the typical male XY chromosome pattern but also female traits. She has been legally identified as female her whole life but World Athletics argued in court she was "biologically male", an assertion she rejected angrily.

Her story has been one of the most contentious in sport ever since she arrived as an unknown at 18 and won gold at the 2009 world championships amid a gender test storm.

She has won two Olympic titles and three world titles in the 800m and is the reigning Olympic champion but has been barred from running her favourite two-lap race since she refused last year to undergo hormone-reducing treatment.

AP