Caster wins IAAF battle following appeal

Caster Semenya has been temporarily cleared to compete in her best track events, following a decision by the Swiss Supreme Court to suspend controversial international gender rules while the athlete’s appeal is being heard.

“I am thankful to the Swiss judges for this decision,” Semenya said in a statement released be her lawyers on Monday.

The court was expected to issue another ruling on the suspension of the IAAF’s regulations after receiving submissions from the global athletics body, but Semenya was pleased to be allowed to compete unrestricted, albeit for an indefinite period.

“I hope that following my appeal I will once again be able to run free,” she said.

Semenya had confirmed last week that she would file an appeal after losing a battle against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which cleared new rules forcing athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) to take hormone suppressants in order to compete against women in certain track and field events.

Though she had been briefly banned from participating against women over distances ranging from 400m to the mile (1.609km), Semenya had entered the women’s 3 000m race at next month’s Diamond League meeting in Stanford, displaying some defiance by stepping up in distance.

Following the latest development, however, she was likely to return to the track over shorter distances while the IAAF rules were suspended.

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