Testosterone monitoring challenge
RIO DE JANEIRO: With South Africa’s Caster Semenya the heavy favourite for the women’s 800m title at the Olympic Games, International Association of Athletics Federations president Sebastian Coe says his organisation intends to challenge the ruling which suspended the monitoring of testosterone levels in female athletes.
Last year the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) lost a case to Indian sprinter Dutee Chand concerning testosterone monitoring in female athletes. The ruling opened the door for female athletes competing on the international stage to stop taking any prescribed testosterone-lowering medication.
After winning gold at the World Championships in 2009, Semenya, then aged just 18, was subjected to massive public scrutiny about sex testing. Semenya had to wait until July 2010 before she was allowed to compete again.
Since the court scrapped testosterone monitoring, Semenya has improved her times markedly, up to seven seconds better this year than what she managed in 2015. Her improved performances include four of the fastest times in the world this year and a new personal best of 1 minute 55.33 seconds.
But the IAAF has until July 2017 to appeal against the ruling, and Coe said the IAAF would have talks with the court on the matter over the next year.
The IAAF would need to build a case to prove the link between higher levels of testosterone and athletic performance in athletes.
“We were surprised by the CAS decision, and I think the IOC was too,” said Coe after a meeting of the IAAF Council in Rio yesterday.
“We are looking again at this issue and will be talking to CAS at some time over the next year. But we need to remember these are human beings. This is a sensitive subject; they are athletes, they are daughters, they are sisters … We will treat this sensitively.” – ANA