Court decision opens the door for Caster Semenya

Caster Semenya might not be returning to the track just yet, but her latest victory in court could give her a chance to resume her fight against gender rules, after the 32-year-old middle-distance runner received some reprieve from the European Court of Human Rights.

The court found in its judgment released on Tuesday that Semenya’s human rights had been violated after World Athletics rules forced her to take hormone suppressants in order to compete against women.

Though it was a split decision, Semenya received majority votes (four out of seven), with the court finding that the two-time Olympic 800m champion had been discriminated against and her privacy had been violated.

Unfair treatment

Semenya had previously lost cases at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Court, before turning to the European Court of Human Rights, which found that she had not been given a fair chance to defend herself.

“The court found in particular that the applicant (Semenya) had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively,” the judgment read.

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It went on to state that CAS had “left open serious questions as to the validity of the (World Athletics) DSD regulations, in particular as regards the side-effects of the hormone treatment; the potential inability of athletes to remain in compliance with the DSD regulations; and the lack of evidence of 46 XY DSD athletes having an actual significant athletic advantage in the 1 500m and 1-mile races.”

In addition, the court found that the review carried out by the Swiss Federal Court had been “very limited”.

Lengthy battle

The three-time world champion has repeatedly been sidelined since launching her top-flight career in 2009, with Semenya fighting a lengthy battle to be able to compete against women due to a condition which gives her a higher than usual natural testosterone level.

In its latest move, global body World Athletics tightened its existing restrictions on athletes with ‘differences of sexual development’ earlier this year, which prevented Semenya and other hyperandrogenic athletes from competing in any track and field events.

While this had seemingly ended her elite career, however, Semenya’s first major victory in court has potentially now opened the door for her to appeal the controversial ruling in another attempt to resume her elite career.

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Responding to the court judgment, Athletics South Africa (ASA) said it felt ‘vindicated’ in its support of Semenya, after the national federation had backed the athlete throughout her multiple appeals.

“ASA will confer with its legal team to ascertain the consequences of the courts ruling and to make a determination on [Semenya’s] rights to participate in the sport of athletics,” the federation said.