Semenya asks for funds Fraser-Pryce to retire after Paris Olympics
PRETORIA – Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya yesterday appealed for funds for her legal battle against regulations requiring female athletes with high testosterone to take medication as she prepares for a May hearing at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The 33-year-old South African athlete won a long legal battle last July against Switzerland at the ECHR, which ruled she was the victim of discrimination from the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
But Swiss authorities, supported by World Athletics, have taken the matter to the ECHR’s Grand Chamber, whose rulings are binding, with hearings slated to start on 15 May.
“We lack funds. We have a lot of experts that come in that we need to pay,” Caster told a press conference in Johannesburg.
“Anything that you may contribute, it makes a huge difference.”
Semenya, who is classed as having ‘differences in sexual development (DSD)’ but has always been legally identified as female, has refused to take drugs to reduce her testosterone levels since track and field’s governing body World Athletics introduced the original rules in 2018.
As a result, the Olympic 800m champion in 2012 and 2016 and world gold medallist in 2009, 2011 and 2017, has been barred from competing at her favoured twolap distance and was forced to make an unsuccessful move up to 5 000m.
Symbolic
The ruling by the ECHR last July was largely symbolic as it does not call into question the World Athletics ruling and does not pave the way for Semenya to return to competition without taking the medication.
In her book, ‘The Race To Be Myself ’, Semenya confesses her career at the top is over.
“I don’t want to talk more about sports as I have accomplished everything I’ve ever wanted,” Semenya said yesterday.
She said she was now focused on being an advocate for young athletes facing similar challenges.
“We all know what this case is all about, it is about the differences in women’s body. And the main goal is to make sure that we protect these young kids so they can be able to compete.”
Semenya’s South African lawyers, who work pro-bono, said that only for the upcoming ECHR’s Grand Chamber hearings costs are expected to reach about US$180 000.
Overall, their client’s decade-long legal battle has cost in the region of R30 million ($1.5 million) with fees for experts and lawyers authorised to present the case before courts in Switzerland and elsewhere among the main expenses, said lawyer Gregory Nott.
“It’s absolutely incredible. It’s ludicrous. So that’s why we’ve turned to the public,” he said.
World Athletics introduced the DSD regulations to create a level playing field in women’s events.
PARIS – Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a threetime Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world champion, said she will retire after this year’s Paris Olympics in an interview published on Thursday.
Speaking to the American magazine Essence, Fraser-Pryce said she is forcing herself to retire at age 37 to spend more time with her family. “My son needs me,” Fraser-Pryce told the magazine. “My husband and I have been together since before I won in 2008. He has sacrificed for me. We’re a partnership, a team.
“It’s because of that support that I’m able to do the things that I’ve been doing for all these years. And I think I now owe it to them to do something else.”
She is focusing on her training for one last chance at Olympic glory in France, what Fraser-Pryce said is about ‘pushing boundaries’ as well as ‘showing people that you stop when you decide.’
“I want to finish on my own terms.”
Fraser-Pryce has won eight Olympic medals, including 100-metre gold at 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London and a Tokyo Olympic title as part of Jamaica’s 4x100 relay.