SEMENYA VOWS TO FIGHT BACK
CHAMPION athlete Caster Semenya has lost another appeal in her battle for justice on the track, but says she will continue to “fight for the human rights of female athletes”.
The double 800m Olympic winner took to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to tackle a ruling made against her by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last year over female athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD). World Athletics’ new regulations state that DSD athletes with high testosterone levels may not compete in distances from the 400m to 1500m until they have taken medication or even had surgical intervention to lower those levels.
Semenya was hoping that the Swiss court would set aside the CAS ruling.
But her legal team at Norton Rose Fulbright said yesterday that her appeal was unsuccessful. This means that as it stands, Semenya will not be able to defend her Olympic title in Tokyo next year. But she is not giving up without a fight.
“I am very disappointed by this ruling, but refuse to let World Athletics drug me or stop me from being who I am,” said the 29-year-old.
“Excluding female athletes or endangering our health solely because of our natural abilities puts World Athletics on the wrong side of history.
“I will continue to fight for the human rights of female athletes… until we can all run free the way we were born.”
Semenya competes in 400m, 800m and 1 500m races, and the move was regarded by many as a plot to end her dominance in the 800m, for which she won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016, and was also the world champion in 2009, 2011 and 2017.
“The Swiss court dismissed the appeal despite finding that the World Athletics regulations seriously violates Caster’s physical integrity because the required hormonal drug intervention is not medically indicated, has negative health effects and is not based on the athlete’s free consent,” Norton Rose Fulbright said. The firm is considering options to challenge the findings in European and domestic courts.