Olympic-champion track-and-field athlete Caster Semenya won her appeal on July 11 against track and field’s testosterone rules when the European Court of Human Rights ruled she was discriminated against and there were “serious questions” about the rules’ validity, according to ESPN.
However, World Athletics, which enforces said rules, said that its regulations would remain in place—meaning the South African runner could not immediately return to top-level competition. (The case was against the government of Switzerland, and not World Athletics itself.)
World Athletics said Semenya has one of a number of conditions known as “differences in sex development,” which results in a natural testosterone level in the typical male range, supposedly giving her an unfair advantage in women’s competitions.
Semenya had previously lost an appeal at sport’s highest court in 2019 and a second challenge against the rules at Switzerland’s supreme court in 2020, hence this latest case. The government of Switzerland was ordered to pay Semenya 60,000 euros ($66,000).
Semenya married long-term partner Violet Raseboya in 2015, with Raseboya giving birth to their daughter in 2020.
—Andrew Davis