Lord Coe hopes Semenya will return

Doha: IAAF president Lord Coe says he hopes Caster Semenya returns to compete in athletics “within the regulations”. The 800m world and Olympic champion will not race at the World Athletics Championships in Doha because of new rules governing testosterone levels in female athletes. Semenya has said she will continue her appeal against the governing body’s decision. Coe said the rules ensured a “level playing field” for all athletes.

“I hope within the regulations that we’ve set that she’s able to continue in track and field. And that’s why we’ve done it,” Coe told BBC Sport.

“We haven’t set those regulations to exclude people. They are actually there to allow us to maintain the presence of those athletes with that condition at international level.”

Asked whether he wanted to see Semenya return to race in the 800m, he said: “Yes, within those regulations of course”.

The new rules from the sport’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, state that athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) must take medication to reduce their levels of testosterone - a hormone that increases muscle mass - in order to compete in track events from 400m to the mile, or change to another distance.

Semenya had been able to race earlier in the season while awaiting the decision of a Swiss court, having previously lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

But the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld the original decision in May, meaning Semenya cannot compete in the 800m without taking medication.