The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that South African athlete Caster Semenya, two-time Olympic champion in the 800 metres, had been subject to discrimination over the application of World Athletics’ testosterone production rules.
The ruling could prompt the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) to reexamine the rules of the global athletics board, which require Semenya and other female athletes to reduce the artificial form of naturally produced testosterone.
Semenya, 32, who won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, has been banned from several competitions because she refused to undergo testosterone-lowering treatments.
The judges of the Strasbourg court also ruled, by a majority of four votes to three, that the TAS prevented Semenya’s discrimination from being “effectively remedied” by rejecting two appeals from the South African athlete.
The court’s decision to interpret the European Convention on Human Rights should not lead to the immediate suspension of World Athletics’ testosterone rules, which have been validated by the TAS and the Swiss court, but could lead to a reassessment of the regulations.
In addition, Semenya, who was unable to defend the titles won in London and Rio de Janeiro at Tokyo2020 due to rules on testosterone production in female athletes, may have opened the door to a return to the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Source: DN
