“Justice has spoken but this is only the beginning,” reacted South African athlete Caster Semenya on Wednesday the day after the decision in his favor by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which considered a victim of discrimination.
Semenya, 32, had seized the ECHR after the Swiss justice had confirmed in 2020 a decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) validating a regulation of the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics), which deprives her of certain races because that she refuses treatment to lower her testosterone levels.
What effect on the regulations of the International Athletics Federation?
In a decision rendered with a narrow majority of four judges against three, the ECHR ruled on Tuesday that Switzerland had notably violated article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, relating to the prohibition of discrimination. , taken in conjunction with Article 8, which protects the right to respect for private life.
Semenya, who has a natural excess of male sex hormones and has been wrestling with the International Athletics Federation for more than ten years, described the decision as “significant” because “it calls into question the future of all similar rules.
“My hope is that World Athletics, and beyond all sports organizations, will take into account the decision of the ECHR and will ensure that the dignity and human rights of athletes are respected,” continued the double Olympic champion in the 800. m, who still hopes to be able to run without having to take medication.