Updated May 02, 2019 13:24:08

Photo: Caster Semenya has won two Olympic gold medals. (Reuters: Phil Noble)

Caster Semenya has lost an appeal against rules designed to decrease naturally high testosterone levels in some female runners.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) panel of three judges gave a complex verdict and "dismissed both requests for arbitration" from Semenya and the governing body of track and field.

In a landmark judgment, the court said the International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) proposed rules on athletes with "differences of sex development (DSD)" were discriminatory.

However, the judges ruled 2-1 that "on the basis of the evidence submitted by the parties, such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the IAAF's aim of preserving the integrity of female athletics in the Restricted Events".

Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion in the 800 metres, will now be forced to medicate to suppress her testosterone levels if she wants to defend her world title in September in Doha, Qatar.

Semenya responded in a statement, declaring she would not be stopped by the ruling.

"I know that the IAAF's regulations have always targeted me specifically," Semenya said in a statement.

"For a decade the IAAF has tried to slow me down, but this has actually made me stronger.

"The decision of the CAS will not hold me back. I will once again rise above and continue to inspire young women and athletes in South Africa and around the world."

Semenya was travelling to Doha on Wednesday for the first Diamond League track meet of the season, where she is expected to race in the 800m on Friday.

The Diamond League is an annual series of meets for the top athletes in the world, and the event is the last one before the new rules apply.

Photo: Caster Semenya's career has been glittering, but has always attracted controversy. (AAP: Tracey Nearmy)

IAAF happy with the decision

The IAAF welcomed the result in a statement.

"The IAAF is grateful to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for its detailed and prompt response to the challenge made to its eligibility regulations for the female classification for athletes with differences of sex development," the federation said in a statement on its website.

"[The IAAF] is pleased that the regulations were found to be a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the IAAF's legitimate aim of preserving the integrity of female athletics in the restricted events."

The regulations will come into effect on May 8.

Affected athletes have one week to reduce their testosterone levels to within regulated levels "so are encouraged to initiate their suppressive treatment as soon as possible," the IAAF said.

"For the avoidance of doubt, no athlete will be forced to undergo any assessment and/or treatment under these regulations.

"It is each athlete's responsibility, in close consultation with her medical team, to decide whether or not to proceed with any assessment and/or treatment."

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee decried the ruling, saying, "We maintain that the rules are ill thought and will be a source of distress for the targeted female athletes".

"This decision marks a massive turning point as it now redefines what a female athlete in particular is," said Natalie du Toit, head of the organisation's athletes commission.

She added: "Knowing Caster and the hard work she has put into her sport, we support all her endeavours, and we are all behind her."

Ross Tucker, a sports science consultant who testified on Semenya's behalf and boasts of a PhD in exercise physiology, said the scientific evidence that the fairness of women's athletics was being compromised was insufficient to justify the rule.

"Is the evidence strong enough and good enough to back the policy? I don't see good science having been followed here," he said.

Semenya is not the only female athlete with high natural levels of testosterone but has become an unwilling face of the issue. Two weeks ago, Olympic silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi confirmed she has the same hyperandrogenism as her rival in the 800m.

Referring to the rule, Niyonsaba said: "For me, it's about discrimination. It doesn't make sense. I didn't choose to be born like this. What am I? I'm created by God."

CAS warns over application of rules

The IAAF went into the case with the scientific argument that female runners with high testosterone levels had an unfair advantage in events from 400 metres to the mile.

Still, the CAS panel "strongly encouraged" the IAAF to note its concerns when it applied the rules — which the judges said might need to be modified in future to remain fair.

"Indeed, it may be that, on implementation and with experience, certain factors may be shown to affect the overall proportionality of the DSD Regulations," the court said.

The judges wanted the IAAF to apply the rules only up to the 800 metres because the evidence was not clear that women with hyperandrogenism had a competitive advantage in the 1,500-metre.

"The CAS Panel suggested that the IAAF consider deferring the application of the DSD Regulations to these events (1,500 and the mile) until more evidence is available," the court said.

That could give Semenya a route to compete at the World Championships without taking medication — she was the bronze medallist in the 1,500-metre at the 2017 Worlds in London.

A further appeal is possible to Switzerland's supreme court in Lausanne.

Federal judges rarely overturn CAS decisions but can intervene if the legal process was abused.

In April last year, IAAF president Sebastian Coe said the track's governing body needed to "ensure a level playing field where success is determined by talent, dedication and hard work rather than other contributing factors".

"We want athletes to be incentivised to make the huge commitment and sacrifice required to excel in the sport, and to inspire new generations to join the sport and aspire to the same excellence," he said.

Semenya, a South African who is also a triple world champion over 800m and completed the 800-1,500 metre double at the Commonwealth Games in April 2018, responded to the IAAF's new rules on Twitter, saying at the time: "I am 97 per cent sure you don't like me but I'm 100 per cent sure I don't care."

AP

Topics: athletics, sport, discrimination, south-africa

First posted May 01, 2019 20:09:02