STRASBOURG: Caster Semenya has won her appeal at the European Court of Human Rights to challenge whether her rights had been infringed by rules requiring women athletes with natural high testosterone to reduce those levels through medication.

The ECHR ruled she was discriminated against and there were “serious questions” about the rules’ validity. World Athletics, which enforces the regulations, said in reaction to the decision that its rules would remain in place.

Tuesday’s decision could force CAS and ultimately World Athletics to re-examine the regulations, although the path and timeline to a possible rollback of the rules is unclear.

World Athletics said:

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.

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