Caster Semenya continues court fight to race without lowering testosterone levels
Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya arrived at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg on Wednesday for a hearing to decide whether she will have to lower her testosterone levels in order to compete in races.
The 33-year-old South African has not featured on the track for more than a year.
Last July, a seven-member ECHR panel ruled that the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had discriminated against her when it decided in 2019 that fair competition was a cardinal principle of sport.
It said that female athletes like Semenya who had testosterone levels comparable to those of men gave them an insurmountable advantage. The decision was validated by the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne in 2020.
But after Semenya's victory last summer, Swiss authorities, supported by track and field's governing body World Athletics, appealed to the ECHR's 17-member Grand Chamber.
Its ruling is not expected for several months but will be binding.
"This is an important day in my journey as a human being and athlete. It has been a long time coming," said Semenya, who was the Olympic 800m champion in 2012 and 2016 and world champion in 2009, 2011 and 2017.
Pride
"In 2009 I stood atop the podium at the Berlin world championships having just been sex tested and knowing that the world was judging my body and questioning my sex. In the 15 years since then I have persevered with dignity in the face of oppression.
"The adversity I have overcome has helped shaped me into a true champion and a compassionate mother, wife, sister, and daughter.
(With newswires)
Read more on RFI English
Read also:
Caster Semenya to run last race over 800m in Doha
Semenya wins first race since new rules announced
