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She's not doping. She has a medical condition which causes her body to produce more testosterone than the average woman. It's a genetic advantage, which is really what all athletes have over the general population.
https://news.vice.com/amp/en_us/arti...ts-court-rules
Female runners with high testosterone must take hormone suppressants to compete, sports court rules
The decision marks the end of a nearly yearlong battle between South African gold medalist Caster Semenya and the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Semenya, the 28-year-old who holds two Olympic gold medals, lost her appeal to the Court for Arbitration in Sport in Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon. The 2-1 decision marks the end of a nearly yearlong battle between Semenya and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), track’s governing body.
In 2018, the IAAF announced a new rule concerning female athletes with a condition called hyperandrogenism, which results in increased testosterone production. The IAAF decided that elevated testosterone levels give them an unfair advantage in races ranging from 400 meters to one mile and instituted a new policy that mandated that female athletes with the condition take medication, such as contraceptives, to reduce their testosterone levels.
Semenya and her legal team argued that she shouldn’t have to alter her body to compete and pointed out that other athletes are celebrated for their genetic variations.
Complying with the regulations could also hamper Semenya in the 800-meter race, her strongest event. One sports scientist predicted that suppressing her testosterone levels could make her five to seven seconds slower.
The decision will also affect Semenya’s biggest rival, Burundian athlete Francine Niyonsaba. She recently revealed in an interview with the Olympic Channel that she also has hyperandrogenism and criticized the IAAF proposal as “discrimination.”
In its decision, the court acknowledged that the rules are discriminatory but added “such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable, and proportionate means of achieving the IAAF’s aim of preserving the integrity of female athletics in the restricted events."
Though the judges sided with the IAAF, they also expressed concerns about the practical implementation of the regulations and the lack of concrete evidence that elevated testosterone gives a performance advantage for two specific distances: 1500 meters and 1 mile. The panel determined enough evidence existed to limit participation in other distances, but recommended that those two races be exempt from the rules until more scientific evidence is produced.
If the IAAF agrees, Semenya may still be able to compete at those longer distances without taking testosterone-suppressing medication, but she couldn’t defend her 800-meter gold title at upcoming events like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The decision marks the end of a nearly yearlong battle between South African gold medalist Caster Semenya and the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Semenya, the 28-year-old who holds two Olympic gold medals, lost her appeal to the Court for Arbitration in Sport in Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon. The 2-1 decision marks the end of a nearly yearlong battle between Semenya and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), track’s governing body.
In 2018, the IAAF announced a new rule concerning female athletes with a condition called hyperandrogenism, which results in increased testosterone production. The IAAF decided that elevated testosterone levels give them an unfair advantage in races ranging from 400 meters to one mile and instituted a new policy that mandated that female athletes with the condition take medication, such as contraceptives, to reduce their testosterone levels.
Semenya and her legal team argued that she shouldn’t have to alter her body to compete and pointed out that other athletes are celebrated for their genetic variations.
Complying with the regulations could also hamper Semenya in the 800-meter race, her strongest event. One sports scientist predicted that suppressing her testosterone levels could make her five to seven seconds slower.
The decision will also affect Semenya’s biggest rival, Burundian athlete Francine Niyonsaba. She recently revealed in an interview with the Olympic Channel that she also has hyperandrogenism and criticized the IAAF proposal as “discrimination.”
In its decision, the court acknowledged that the rules are discriminatory but added “such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable, and proportionate means of achieving the IAAF’s aim of preserving the integrity of female athletics in the restricted events."
Though the judges sided with the IAAF, they also expressed concerns about the practical implementation of the regulations and the lack of concrete evidence that elevated testosterone gives a performance advantage for two specific distances: 1500 meters and 1 mile. The panel determined enough evidence existed to limit participation in other distances, but recommended that those two races be exempt from the rules until more scientific evidence is produced.
If the IAAF agrees, Semenya may still be able to compete at those longer distances without taking testosterone-suppressing medication, but she couldn’t defend her 800-meter gold title at upcoming events like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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