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 introducing new rules on women competitors.
It ruled 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 for her expenses.
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.
Image (Former Olympian Caster Mogadi Semenya, who is now a coach, was cleared by European court).
