Olympic champion Caster Semenya (South Africa) celebrated an important victory in her long-standing legal dispute against the controversial testosterone rule of the world athletics association World Athletics (WA) before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg – her lawsuit against Switzerland was successful.
The judges ruled with a 4:3 majority that Semenya had been discriminated against. For the 32-year-old, however, the verdict is largely only of a symbolic nature, as it does not question the WA rule itself and does not pave the way for Semenya to return.
Semenya: Not active since 2019
Semenya won Olympic gold over 800 meters in 2012 and 2016, but has not been allowed to compete in international races on her parade route since 2019 due to the so-called testosterone rule. Semenya initially took her protest against her starting ban to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS. This ruled against her, against which she lodged an appeal before the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne. However, the federal court rejected this. Semenya therefore turned to the European Court of Human Rights.
At the heart of the legal dispute is a testosterone limit for athletes with intersex tendencies. The latest version of the rule requires that female athletes with gender development variants (DSD) have their blood testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter and below that level for two years in order to compete in the female category.
Rule applies to all disciplines
The three-time world champion rejects this. The rule now applies to all disciplines and no longer to running distances of 400 meters to one mile. WA introduced the rule to protect the integrity of the women’s category.
“All we want is permission to walk free, now and forever, as the strong and fearless women we are and always have been”, Semenya had said when filing her lawsuit: “This fight is not just about me, it’s about taking a stand and fighting for the dignity, equality and human rights of women in sport.” Semenya had previously unsuccessfully sued the International Sports Court and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
Long process through the instances
On May 1, 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced its ruling on the IAAF’s new testosterone limit rule. At the time, the CAS judges upheld the view of the plaintiffs (consisting of Semenya and the South African Athletics Association ASA) by a vote of 2:1 that discrimination existed, but that this was necessary, appropriate and proportionate to protect the integrity of women’s athletics.
It was warned that the fairness of the implementation of the ordinances should always be ensured and that these should be adjusted if necessary. With a final decision of August 25, 2020, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court dismissed Semenya’s appeal in five members. At the end of February 2021, she informed the public that she had filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against the exclusion of athletes with naturally high testosterone levels. At least there she was right.
Source: sid/AP/Reuters/red