TOKYO (AP) — Two 18-year-old Namibian runners have thrown track and field’s contentious testosterone issue back into the Olympic spotlight by blazing into the women’s 200-meter final in Tokyo.

One of them, Christine Mboma, broke the world under-20 record twice in the span of about eight hours at the Olympic Stadium on the way to the final.

  • Beatrice Masilingi, of Namibia, competes in a semifinal of the women’s 200-meters at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
  • Christine Mboma, of Namibia, competes in a semifinal of the women’s 200-meters at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
  • Gabrielle Thomas, right, of the United States, leads Christine Mboma, of Namibia, in their heat of the women’s 200-meters at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Mboma and teammate Beatrice Masilingi were barred from running in the 400-meter race just weeks before the Games after tests ordered by the world track body found they had high natural testosterone.

But the rules only apply to distances between 400 meters and one mile. That allowed them to still run at the Olympics in the 200.