Double Olympic 800 meter champion Caster Semenya has won her appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to challenge whether her rights had been infringed in terms of requiring women with high testosterone to reduce those levels through drugs.
Semenya, who is classed as having "differences in sexual development", has refused to take testosterone-lowering medication as mandated by World Athletics.
According to AFP, the court found that Semenya had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively.
World Athletics issued a brief statement on Tuesday, noting 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."
Semenya won Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games and at Rio in 2016.
The athlete has since written a memoir set to be released on the 31st of October.
