Caster Semenya wins appeal over ‘discrimination’ at European Court of Human Rights


Tom Davidson and Jeremy Ullmann
Fri, 18 August 2023

Caster Semenya was discriminated against by the introduction of rules forcing her to lower her testosterone levels in order to continue competing, according to a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights.

The 32-year-old, a two-time 800 metres Olympic champion, was legally identified as female at birth but has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition.

She has been unable to compete at her favoured distance since the introduction of limits on testosterone levels which would have forced her to use medication.

Previous legal challenges to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court were rejected, but the ECHR found her human rights had been violated.

A release issued by the court stated: “The Court found in particular that the applicant had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively, especially since her complaints concerned substantiated and credible claims of discrimination as a result of her increased testosterone level caused by differences of sex development (DSD).”

The release on the judgement said the ECHR chamber was a majority decision, with four of the seven representatives finding that Semenya’s rights under Articles 13 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated.

The chamber judgement is not final and can be referred to a Grand Chamber of the court for further consideration if a request is made.

A statement from World Athletics read: “World Athletics notes the judgment of the deeply divided Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

“We remain of the view that the DSD regulations are a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair competition in the female category as the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss Federal Tribunal both found, after a detailed and expert assessment of the evidence.

“The case was filed against the state of Switzerland, rather than World Athletics.

“We will liaise with the Swiss Government on the next steps and, given the strong dissenting views in the decision, we will be encouraging them to seek referral of the case to the ECHR Grand Chamber for a final and definitive decision.

“In the meantime, the current DSD regulations, approved by the World Athletics Council in March 2023, will remain in place.”