Albany Times Union

Semenya battles IAAF over gender in sports

- — Staff, wire reports

LAUSANNE, Switzerlan­d — The longtime standoff between Olympic champion Caster Semenya and track and field’s governing body over issues of gender, hormones and performanc­e in sports reached a pivotal phase on Monday as a key tribunal began hosting a planned five-day hearing in a case that could have massive repercussi­ons throughout sports.

Insisting on the need for fairness, the IAAF defended “eligibilit­y standards that ensure that athletes who identify as female but have testes, and testostero­ne levels in the male range, at least drop their testostero­ne levels into the female range in order to compete at the elite level in the female classifica­tion.”

The IAAF has proposed eligibilit­y rules for athletes with hyperandro­genism, a medical condition in which women may have excessive levels of male hormones. Semenya, a two-time 800-meter gold medalist from South Africa, wants to overturn those rules.

Tennis: serena williams returned to the top 10 in the rankings for the first time since taking a break to have her first child. Williams dropped as low as 491st upon her return to competitio­n in March but is up to No. 10 after reaching two Grand Slam finals since. Naomi osaka remains No. 1. soccer: Former Manchester United winger Nani became the latest 30-plus star to join Major League Soccer after a career in Europe, agreeing to a three-year contract with Orlando City.

NFL: The Jaguars exercised a $12 million option on Pro Bowl defensive end calais campbell. horse racing: super steed, sent off at odds of 62-1, pulled off the upset in the Grade III, $500,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Ridden by Terry Thompson and trained by Larry Jones, Super Steed won the 11⁄16-mile race in a time of 1:44.05 and paid $126.60, $39.80 and $19.80.

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