Caster Semenya accuses IAAF of using her as 'guinea pig' for testosterone limits
Tuesday 18 June 2019 18:10, UK
Caster Semenya has accused world athletics' governing body the IAAF of using her as "a human guinea pig" to test its testosterone limit for intersex athletes.
The double Olympic 800 metres champion has been reacting to the publication of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's written decision to reject her appeal against the IAAF's 'eligibility regulations for the female classification (athletes with differences of sex development)'.
Semenya is refusing to take medication to reduce her testosterone below the disputed limit of five nanomoles per litre of blood serum to compete in track events between 400 metres and a mile.
She previously complied with an earlier version of rules between mid-2011 and 2015 by taking contraceptives to reduce her testosterone below 10 nmol/L, a threshold twice as high as the new one, and endured the least successful period of her elite career.
The decision from the three-strong panel was made last month with the full 163-page verdict published today with the verdict unanimously agreeing the regulations were "discriminatory" but, by a 2-1 verdict, deciding they were a "necessary, reasonable and proportionate" way of protecting the integrity of female athletics.
In a statement, Semenya said: "The IAAF used me in the past as a human guinea pig to experiment with how the medication they required me to take would affect my testosterone levels.
"Even though the hormonal drugs made me feel constantly sick, the IAAF now wants to enforce even stricter thresholds with unknown health consequences. I will not allow the IAAF to use me and my body again."
Semenya has since taken her fight against the regulations to the Swiss Federal Court.
