In an email to the Associated Press, Semenya’s lawyer, Patrick Bracher, clarified that they would not take the matter to the Swiss Supreme Court.
“The legal challenges have led to notable successes, reaching the highest court possible, and there are no further avenues left,” Bracher stated.
A groundbreaking case
Semenya, a gold medalist in the 800 meters, has faced a ban from her preferred events at major international competitions since 2019. To comply with the rules, she has been taking medication to lower her hormone levels artificially.
Her struggle began in 2018 against regulations from World Athletics, through three courts including the Swiss Federal Court and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She maintained that these rules infringed her rights. Although she lost at the lower courts, the European Court of Human Rights determined that she had not received a fair hearing in Switzerland, leaving room for her to proceed with her challenge.
My career ended at peak
Semenya was the leading mid-distance runner in the world, with over 30 consecutive victories, when she was barred from competition. Now 34, she has transitioned to coaching, a shift that many feel effectively ended her competitive career.
She has symbolized the heated debates around sexual eligibility in sports since she won the World Championship as a teenager in 2009, which led to her undergoing sexual verification tests. Semenya has a condition known as differences in sexual development (DSD), characterized by a male XY chromosomal pattern along with female physical traits and elevated naturally occurring testosterone levels. DSD conditions are sometimes grouped with intersex conditions.
Now we are tracking regulations more strictly
Athletics introduced new rules in 2011 aimed at managing women with high natural testosterone in response to Semenya’s emergence. Over the years, regulations have become more stringent, with recent changes shifting from testosterone monitoring to requiring genetic testing to identify the Y chromosome in athletes. Those who do not pass a one-time genetic eligibility test are barred from female competition, with these new rules taking effect on September 1, just ahead of the recent World Championships.
Bracher noted that the current regulations significantly differ from those that Semenya faced when her legal battle began. However, he suggested that the recent victory at the European Court could lay the groundwork for another athlete to challenge existing rules.
Other sports tighten the rules
While Semenya’s case has made athletics a focal point in the discussion of sex eligibility for nearly two decades, other sports like swimming have also placed restrictions on women with DSD conditions. The situation involving Semenya has often been viewed as a benchmark, prompting various sports to implement similar policies.
Boxing faced its own controversy surrounding sex eligibility during the last Paris Olympics, after athletes from Algeria and Taiwan alleged they failed unspecified sexual verification tests. The sport is now moving towards hereditary testing, and Kelif, who won gold in Paris, has echoed Semenya’s position by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
