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What is the Semenya case about?
Intersex middle distance runner Caster Semenya (32) won two Olympic gold medals over 800m and was a three-time world champion before being suddenly slowed down in 2019. Then the World Athletics Federation (World Athletics) changed its rules for intersex athletes (again) – it required a testosterone upper limit of five nanomoles / liter for women for races between 400 m and one mile. If you had too high a testosterone level, you had to lower it with medication. It is clear to many observers: this is a “Lex Semenya”.
Why was «Lex Semenya» created?
The South African, classified as female at birth, was born without ovaries and a uterus, but with internal testicles and high testosterone levels. From 2009 she dominated the middle distance and embarrassed the club bosses. The big question: Is it fair to start them with women? With the introduction of testosterone limits, Semenya was unable to start at their longest distances.
Why does Semenya have an advantage?
“Differences of Sex Development,” DSD for short, is the buzzword in sports regulations. It means that affected women’s bodies tend to produce more testosterone. And thus have a performance advantage over their competitors. That’s where the problem starts: either the DSD athletes are excluded from the women’s competitions and thus discriminated against – or they have a clear advantage over their competitors in the women’s category. That’s why the DSD guidelines are considered the most controversial rule in world sport.
What has the European Court of Human Rights now decided?
That Switzerland discriminated against Semenya. “The prosecution was not provided with sufficient institutional and procedural guarantees in Switzerland that would have enabled it to effectively investigate its complaints,” said the verdict, which the small chamber voted 4:3. Especially since the complaints seemed “founded and credible”. Therefore, the ECtHR could not determine “whether the DSD provisions, as applied in the applicant’s case, can be considered an objective and proportionate measure in relation to the aim pursued (the protection of fair competition for female athletes)”.
What does that mean?
Semenya initially filed her protest against the starting ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne VD. In 2020, he had ruled against her, after which Semenya filed a complaint with the Swiss Federal Court. The federal court rejected the appeal. This is how the South African reached the European Court of Human Rights. And he has now decided that the complaint should have been investigated more thoroughly by the Federal Supreme Court – the Swiss government should also pay Semenya €60,000 in damages.
So can Semenya start over now?
No. The current regulations for DSD athletes, which were adopted by the association council in the spring of 2023, will remain in force until further notice. The regulations have also been amended again this year. To participate in women’s competitions, athletes must have a testosterone level of less than 2.5 nanomoles per liter of blood (nmol/L) for two years. “It’s about protecting the women’s categories,” association president Sebastian Coe said in March. “The fairness and integrity of the competition take precedence over inclusion,” the world federation said.
What does World Athletics say now?
The World Federation continues to believe that the DSD regulations are a necessary, proportionate and proportionate means to protect fair competition in the women’s category, as both the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, after a detailed and expert assessment of the evidence found, it said in a statement. They now want to “align the next steps with the Swiss government and, given the widely differing views in the decision, encourage them to refer the case to the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR for a final decision to be made.” In the meantime, the current DSD regulations, approved by the World Athletics Council in March 2023, remain in effect.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
