Strasbourg: Caster Semenya’s expensive legal marathon entered its final leg, as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upper chamber began a hearing on Wednesday whether the double Olympic champion may be required to lower his testosterone levels to compete.
The 33-year-old runner won a previous round at the ECHR last July against alleged victims of discrimination at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Semenya, who has been described as having “sexual development difference” (DSD) but has always legally identified as a woman, has refused to take testosterone-reducing drugs since the athletics’ governing body, the World Athletics Association, introduced the original rules in 2018. .
CAS ruled against him in 2019, which was confirmed by the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne in 2020. “Fair competition” has been declared as a “basic principle of sport” and it has been said that male-like testosterone levels have given female athletes “worry”. an insurmountable advantage”.
Last July, a seven-member panel of the ECHR ruled by a vote of four to three that the Swiss court’s decision was discriminatory and a violation of Semenya’s privacy.
The decision was largely symbolic, as it did not question the decision of World Athletics or allow Semenya to return to competition without medication.
The Swiss authorities, supported by the world’s athletes, appealed to the 17-member Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice. A decision is not expected for several months, but it will be binding.
Semenya, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic 800m champion and world gold medalist in 2009, 2011 and 2017, was banned from competing in the two-stroke distance and was forced out of the 5,000m, which she chose not to follow under World Athletics rules.
Semenya will be in Strasbourg to present his case.
His victory before the ECHR is considered by some experts to be important.
“This decision will go down in history because it touches on the autonomy of sports organizations to manage access to competitions that are held without respect for human rights,” said sports law expert Asser Antoine Duval. Institute in The Hague.
The potential legal battle has taken a heavy financial toll on Semenya, who has not competed since March 2023 and filed for bankruptcy in February.
“We lack funds. We have many experts to pay,” he said at a press conference in Johannesburg.
In total, the decade-long legal battle cost about 30 million ($1.5 million) for experts and lawyers authorized to take the case to Swiss courts, among the highest costs in the region, his lawyer, Gregory Nott, said at a press conference.
Semenya says his career at the top is over.
He said he is now focused on being an advocate for young athletes facing similar challenges.
“We all know what this business is all about, the disparities in women’s bodies. The bottom line is to make sure we protect these young kids so they can compete.”
Last year, World Athletics changed its rules. DSD athletes like Semenya must now lower their blood testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter, down from five levels previously, and exceed that limit for two years.
World Athletics has also removed the restricted event rules for DSD athletes, meaning they are banned from all events if they do not meet the testosterone standard. APPLICATIONS
