Women's 800m champion Caster Semenya is at the Court of
Arbitration for Sport to fight proposed rules that would force her to lower her
testosterone levels.
The 28-year-old South African, who has been dogged by
questions about her gender, was seen giving a peace sign ahead of the first day
of her landmark hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland this morning.
Her court challenge is set to last five days with a
judgement expected at the end of March.
The South African government has said the rules proposed by
track and field's governing body, the International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF), specifically target Semenya and has called them a 'gross
violation' of her human rights.
Controversial rules would force so-called 'hyperandrogenic'
athletes or those with 'differences of sexual development' (DSD) to take drugs
to lower testosterone levels below a prescribed amount if they wish to compete.
The rules were to have been introduced last November but
have been put on hold pending this week's hearings at the Lausanne-based CAS
which Semenya is expected to attend.
South African government officials have called the
proposals 'discriminatory' and say that 'women's bodies, their wellbeing, their
ability to earn a livelihood, their very identity, their privacy and sense of
safety and belonging in the world, are being questioned.'
When it was reported last week that the IAAF would argue
that Semenya should be classified as a biological male - a claim later denied
by the IAAF - she hit back, saying she was 'unquestionably a woman'.
In response to the report, the IAAF - stressing it was
referring in general terms, not to Semenya in particular - denied it intended
to classify any DSD athlete as male.
Caster Semenya (pictured) has argued that she is
'unquestionably a woman' ahead of her landmark court case. Daily Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment