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The right of Caster Semenya to a fair hearing was violated by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court when she lost a complaint in 2020 against the world athletics provisions that effectively banned her from competing, the best court in Europe has ruled.
The 800m double Olympic champion won a partial victory in the European Court of Human Rights (Echr) in his long legal battle for the eligibility rules for sexual athletics.
The 34 -year -old Semenya was born with differences in sexual development (DSD) and is not able to compete at 800 m, as world athletics introduced rules in 2019, limiting testosterone levels for 400 m tracking events.
The South African mid -range runner believes that world athletics has shown discrimination against athletes with DSD, insisting that they reduce testosterone levels to be eligible.
Speaking to the BBC Sport after the sentence, Semenya said: “This is more than we have thought. I don’t think it’s competition. It’s about human rights. It’s about protecting athletes.
“My role is to become a voice for those who can’t talk.”
The managing organ of athletics insists that the rules that were expanded in 2023 to cover all events for women’s runways and fields to ensure fair competition and to protect the female category.
The seeds were Olympic champion over 800 m in 2012 and 2016.
In 2019, she unsuccessfully challenged the rules of world athletics in Switzerland -based arbitration court (CAS).
In July 2023 Echr rules in favor of Semenya In case of testosterone levels in female athletes.
The Echr case was not against the sports bodies or DSD rules, but more special against the Switzerland government for not defending Semenya’s rights and dating back to a Supreme Court Decision in Switzerland since 2020
The Switzerland government has asked for the issue to be directed to the Grand Chamber of the ECA, which has now found that the Swiss decision “has not complied with the requirement for a specific rigor” in accordance with Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The judges said the Swiss review “had” dropped out “from this requirement.
However, the Grand Chamber discovered the complaints of the seeds in accordance with Articles 8 (the right to observe privacy), 13 (the right to an effective remedy) and 14 (a prohibition of discrimination) inadmissible, as they “do not fall into the jurisdiction of Switzerland”.
As the case concerns the Swiss government, not world athletics, this will not immediately affect the current restrictions of DSD athletes.
Seeds said the result was “prevalent”, adding: “For someone who has been waiting for more than 15 years, he can hear that I want to say, you know that you feel heard, this is a beautiful feeling.
“The past is the past. I want to say we focus on the future. I will say again, I will say again. And I feel fulfilled.”
The decisions taken by the Grand House of Echr are not open to appeal.
The seed of the seeds can now be returned to the Federal Court in Switzerland in Lausanne.
The athlete’s lawyer, Sean Jolie, said they needed time to process the decision before deciding on the next move, but told BBC Sport Semenya, “is avenged.”
“Starting today, the management of international sports must sit down and notice the fundamental rights of the athlete,” Jolie said.
“It is not possible to put this aside and say” the essential rights of the athlete do not matter. “They firmly do it.”
World athletics declined to comment.
