Olympic champion Caster Semenya wins appeal against testosterone rules in human rights court

Champion runner Caster Semenya won a potentially landmark legal victory on Tuesday when the European Court of Human Rights decided she was discriminated against by sports rules that force her to medically reduce her natural hormone levels to compete in major competitions.

The ruling by the Strasbourg, France-based court questioned the “validity” of the contentious international athletics regulations in that they infringed Semenya’s human rights.

But the two-time Olympic champion’s first legal success after two failed appeals in sports’ highest court and the Swiss supreme court came with a major caveat. Amid her bid to be allowed to run again without restriction and go for another gold at next year’s Olympics in Paris, Tuesday’s judgment, while major, did not immediately result in the rules being dropped.

That might still take years.

The South African athlete’s challenge against the testosterone rules began in 2018.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/olympic-champion-caster-semenya-wins-appeal-testosterone-rules-human-r-rcna93663

Semenya is technically intersex, having one of the numerous conditions recognized under the umbrella of that category, but was raised as a female and identifies as female.