Semenya hails court ruling on her mandatory hormone regulation treatment
South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya has hailed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that a pervious ruling by the Switzerland government discriminated her, bringing to light the “serious questions about the validity of rules set out by World Athletics.”
Semenya the ruling was a long time coming and that she will always stand up against discrimination of any kind in sports.
“I have suffered a lot at the hands of the powers that be and been treated poorly. The hard work that I have put in to being the athlete I am has been questioned. My rights violated. My career impacted. All of it so damaging. Mentally, emotionally, physically and financially,” Semenya said.
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She expressed gratitude to her legal team who fought for her at the European Court of Human Rights. She sad she hopes the decision will be significant for all sportspersons and that World Athletics and other sporting bodies will ensure that the dignity and human rights of athletes they deal with are respected.
“We all deserve to live in a world where we are free to be ourselves,” she said.
Semenya, a double Olympic gold medalist and World Champion, was born with differences in sex development, meaning her body produces higher levels of testosterone than women. Her testosterone levels are in the range of those found in males and was believed to give her an unfair advantage against her female competitors.
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In 2018, the World Athletics required her to have hormone treatment that suppresses the testosterone and that she wouldn’t compete in any events unless she takes the medication. She disputed this and lost the case.
She then turned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest court in sports and the Swiss Federal Tribunal to overturn World Athletics’ decision but she lost again in February 2021. It was then that she went to the European Court of Human Rights. The Court ruled in her favour and fined the Swiss government 66,000 euros (Sh10.36 million) as expenses incurred in Semenya’s legal battle.
Despite this win, World Athletics still stands by its decision it made regarding Semenya.
“We remain of the view that the DSD regulations are a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair competition in the female category as the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss Federal Tribunal both found, after a detailed and expert assessment of the evidence,” the World Athletics said in a statement.
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