Top sports court nixes IAAF testosterone-based ban on some female athletes
Saying that there is no proof that higher levels of testosterone significantly help women in competition, a top global sports appeals court gave international track and field’s governing body two years to develop such evidence.
Meanwhile, the International Association of Athletics Federations cannot ban women with naturally occurring levels of testosterone deemed to fall within the male spectrum from competing against other women, ruled (PDF) the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
If the IAAF doesn’t develop such evidence within two years, its so-called “hyperandrogenism regulation” based on testosterone levels will be void, reports the New York Times (reg. req.).
“Although athletics events are divided into discrete male and female categories, sex in humans is not simply binary,” the panel wrote. “As it was put during the hearing: ‘nature is not neat.’ There is no single determinant of sex.”
Specifically at issue was the classification of star Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, 19, who is now cleared to compete again as a woman. She challenged the validity of the IAAF rules after she was barred from competition last year in India.
“What I had to face last year was not fair,” she said in a written statement provided to the newspaper. “I have a right to run and compete. But that right was taken away from me. I was humiliated for something that I can’t be blamed for. I am glad that no other female athlete will have to face what I have faced, thanks to this verdict.”
The Associated Press also has a story.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “‘Blade Runner’ Lawyers to Represent Semenya in Gender Dispute”
BBC Sport: “Caster Semenya: ‘What I dream of is to become Olympic champion’”
