The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is set to issue a landmark ruling on Thursday in the case of South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya, who is challenging regulations that require female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels to lower them in order to compete in women’s events.
Semenya, a double Olympic 800m champion and three-time world titleholder, has long opposed the rules imposed by World Athletics since 2018, which prevent athletes with certain differences in sexual development (DSDs) from competing unless they take hormone-suppressing medication. Semenya, who has always been legally recognised as female, has refused to comply, leading to her exclusion from her signature 800m event.
The case before the ECHR follows multiple legal battles. In 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld World Athletics’ regulations, a decision later affirmed by Switzerland’s Federal Court. However, in 2023, the ECHR ruled that Semenya had been discriminated against, though the verdict did not overturn the World Athletics policy or reinstate her eligibility to compete.
The outcome of the latest appeal, now before the ECHR’s 17-member Grand Chamber, could reshape the future of gender classification in sports. Sports law expert Antoine Duval called it a decisive moment that could influence challenges to similar rules across various sports bodies.
Semenya, born with XY chromosomes and higher natural testosterone levels, has said the regulations forced her to feel like a “human guinea pig.” Her case has reignited a broader debate on gender testing, which some sports bodies—including World Boxing and World Aquatics—have recently embraced through chromosomal screening.
Supporters argue that such tests are necessary to ensure fairness in women’s sports, while critics, including Human Rights Watch and sociologist Madeleine Pape, denounce the policies as degrading, invasive, and not firmly grounded in scientific consensus.
The issue has grown more politically charged, particularly after recent speculation about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s gender at the Paris Olympics, drawing commentary from global figures like Donald Trump and J.K. Rowling.
Semenya hopes the court’s decision will reaffirm the human rights of athletes and “inspire all young women to be and accept themselves in all their diversity.”
