Caster Semenya: European Court of Human Rights rules in favour of double Olympic champion

Caster Semenya, the double 800m Olympic champion, has received a favourable ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in a case centered on testosterone levels in female athletes.

32-year-old Semenya has a long-standing dispute with governing body World Athletics regarding regulations that require her to undergo hormone treatment to reduce her natural testosterone levels in order to compete in events between 400m and a mile.

The ruling could force the sport's highest court to re-examine the regulations that force Semenya and other female athletes to artificially reduce naturally high testosterone levels in order to compete at top meets such as the Olympics and World Championships.

The Strasbourg-based rights court ruled in Semenya's favor by a 4-3 majority of judges.

The case presented to the ECHR was against the Swiss government for failing to protect Semenya's rights, stemming from a Swiss Supreme Court ruling three years ago.

Despite two previous legal battles to overturn the decision, Semenya was unsuccessful until now.

In its detailed judgement, the ECHR determined that the Swiss government had not safeguarded Semenya from discrimination when the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to support World Athletics' regulations for athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD).

Semenya argued that taking testosterone-reducing medication could pose a risk to her health and that the ruling violated her rights and those of other athletes with DSD, impeding their ability to rely on their natural abilities.

The court also ruled the South African runner was denied an “effective remedy” against that discrimination when the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Switzerland's Supreme Court denied her two previous appeals against the rules.

It was not immediately clear if the ruling would force an immediate rollback of the rules and if the 32-year-old Semenya would be allowed to compete at next year's Olympics in Paris.

She was the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion in 800 metres but was barred from running in that event since 2019 by the testosterone rules and wasn't allowed to defend her title at the Tokyo Olympics.

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