Close Sidebar
The Financial Gazette
The Financial Gazette
The Financial Gazette

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Home Sport Caster Semenya says ‘justice has spoken’ after European Court of Human Rights ruling
Sport
July 13, 2023

Caster Semenya says ‘justice has spoken’ after European Court of Human Rights ruling

Print
EMail

Double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya says “justice has spoken” after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in her favour on Tuesday.

Semenya won her appeal against the government of Switzerland for not protecting her rights and dates back to a Swiss Supreme Court ruling in 2020.

In a statement, the 32-year-old South African said the decision “has been a long time coming.”

She added: “I am elated at the outcome of the ruling,”

Caster Semenya has won two Olympic titles and three world titles over 800m

Semenya was born with differences of sexual development (DSD) and is not allowed to compete in any track events without taking testosterone-reducing drugs.

She has been in a long-running dispute with World Athletics, who require athletes with DSD to have hormone treatment in order to compete in female track events – something Semenya refuses to do.

The three-time 800m world champion has twice failed in legal appeals to overturn the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in 2019 and three years ago in Switzerland.

The ECHR found the Swiss government failed to defend Semenya from discrimination when its Supreme Court refused to overturn a ruling by Cas, which upheld the World Athletics rules.

Semenya’s statement continued: “I have suffered a lot at the hands of the powers that be and have been treated poorly.

“The hard work that I have put in to being the athlete I am has been questioned. My rights violated. My career impacted. All of it so damaging. Mentally, emotionally, physically and financially.

“Justice has spoken but this is only the beginning.”

While Semenya’s case at the ECHR did not involve World Athletics, she said the decision is still significant for athletes in “throwing doubt on the future of all similar rules.”

She added: “My hope is that World Athletics, and indeed all sporting bodies, reflect on the statements made by the European Court of Human Rights and ensure that they respect the dignity and human rights of the athletes they deal with.”

Semenya, who is also a 1500m Commonwealth champion, ran in the 5,000m at last year’s World Championships in Oregon but failed to qualify for the final. –-bbc.com