The Grand Chamber of the European Court yesterday upheld a 2023 ruling that double 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya’s appeal to a Swiss Federal Tribunal against regulations that barred her from competing had not been properly heard.
Semenya is appealing against World Athletics regulations that female athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD) medically reduce their testosterone levels.
The verdict of the Grand Chamber, part of the European Court of Human Rights, does not set aside the rules.
Photo: AP
Under World Athletics regulations, female DSD athletes must lower their level of testosterone to below 2.5 nanomoles per liter for at least six months to compete. That can be done medically or surgically.
Semenya, 34, is not seeking a return to the track and has turned to coaching, but said she is carrying on the fight for other DSD athletes, who she said are discriminated against.
The verdict, which does not give opinion on the fairness of the regulations, opens the door for Semenya to continue her challenge to the regulations, which she said are discriminatory.
“It’s a battle for human rights now,” the South African told a newspaper last month. “It’s not about competing. It’s about putting athletes’ rights first. It’s about the protection of athletes.”
The European Court of Human Rights in July 2023 ruled, by a majority of four votes to three, that Semenya’s original appeal to a Swiss Federal Tribunal against the regulations had not been properly heard.
The case could now return to the Swiss courts, or possibly the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Semenya’s case could ultimately have repercussions for other high-profile Olympic sports.
A sex eligibility controversy involving female boxers Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan and Imane Khelif of Algeria raged at last year’s Paris Olympics, undermining the competition.
Boxing, in response, has announced it will have new sex eligibility testing.
Additional reporting by AP
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