the European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Caster Semenya, suffering from hyperandrogenism

A victory for Caster Semenya. The South African athlete, prevented from participating in certain races because she refuses treatment to lower her testosterone levels, won a legal battle on Tuesday July 11 against Switzerland, before the European Court of Human Rights , who considers the 32-year-old athlete a victim of discrimination.

Swiss justice had confirmed in 2020 a decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) validating a regulation of the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics, ex-IAAF). This forces the hyperandrogenic athlete, double Olympic champion in the 800m, to take hormone treatment to lower her testosterone levels if she wants to align with her favorite distance.

This judgment of the ECHR does not however invalidate the regulations of World Athletics and does not directly open the way for Semenya to participate in the 800m without treatment. The athlete has a natural excess of male sex hormones. For more than ten years, it has been wrestling with the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics, ex-IAAF). With supporting expertise, the latter defined in April 2018 a maximum testosterone threshold (5 nanomoles per liter of blood) to compete with women over distances ranging from 400 m to a mile (1609 m), and therefore including the 800 m where the South African excels.