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Semenya has been unable to compete in her favoured 800m category since 2018.
Caster Semenya at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
A top European court on Thursday said a Swiss court did not give South African runner Caster Semenya a fair trial over whether she should lower her testosterone levels to compete as a woman.
The double Olympic champion, who is classed as having “differences in sexual development”, has been unable to compete in her favoured 800m category since 2018, after she refused to take drugs to reduce her testosterone levels following World Athletics’ introduction of new rules on women competitors.
She had hoped for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to also rule that she had been a victim of discrimination, but its Grand Chamber said those complaints were inadmissible as they did not fall under Switzerland’s jurisdiction.
Court ‘fell short’ in Semenya ruling
Semenya has already tried other tribunals to try to change the rules.
The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against her in 2019 and the decision was validated by the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne in 2020. It judged that a testosterone level comparable to that of men gave female athletes “an insurmountable advantage”.
The ECHR found that the case had required a “rigorous judicial review that was commensurate with the seriousness of the personal rights at issue”, but the federal court’s review had “fallen short of that requirement”.
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It ruled that, as such, Semenya “had not benefitted from the safeguards provided for” a fair trial in the European Convention on Human Rights.
It ordered Switzerland to pay the athlete 80 000 euros (around R1.6 million) for her expenses.
Previous court ruling was merely symbolic
The ECHR in 2023 ruled that Semenya was the victim of discrimination by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Its decision was, however, largely symbolic as it did not call into question the World Athletics ruling nor allow Semenya to return to competition without taking medication.
Swiss authorities, supported by World Athletics, appealed to the European court’s 17-member Grand Chamber – its appeals body, leading to Thursday’s ruling.
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