The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Grand Chamber ruled Thursday that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) claimed a significant victory, while South African double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya achieved a minor win in her long-running legal battle. The "Semenya v Switzerland" case centers on Semenya’s challenge to World Athletics’ rules on athletes with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD).
Semenya, who won Olympic gold in the women’s 800m in 2012 and 2016, first sued World Athletics (then IAAF) over its 2018 DSD regulations at CAS in 2018. The rules required athletes with high natural testosterone levels (in the male range) to lower them to compete in women’s events like the 800m, a measure World Athletics said was needed to ensure fair competition.
In April 2019, CAS dismissed Semenya’s case. Its ruling stated: "A majority of the arbitral tribunal found that World Athletics had demonstrated the necessity of its rules for 46 XY DSD female athletes in specific events—aimed at preserving fair competition by ensuring women without significant advantages from adult male-range testosterone do not compete against those with such advantages."
Semenya appealed to Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court in May 2019, but it upheld CAS’ decision in August 2020, ruling the award "did not violate substantive public policy."
Semenya turned to the ECHR in May 2021, arguing under Articles 6(1) and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights that Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court had "insufficiently and undiscriminatingly" reviewed the CAS ruling.
Thursday’s ECHR judgment largely backed CAS’ authority, affirming sports arbitration as a valid framework. However, it found minor flaws in the Swiss court’s review, a limited win for Semenya. The ruling avoids upending global sports’ anti-discrimination and fair competition rules but leaves room for debate over DSD regulations.
For Semenya, who has been barred from defending her 800m title in recent Olympics due to the rules, the partial victory offers small legal recognition—though her path back to elite competition remains unclear.
