Court Bars Women With High Testosterone From Some Track Races

A group of scientists has charged that the I.A.A.F. relied on faulty data in trying to establish the precise advantages of athletes with elevated testosterone levels. Semenya’s lawyers and other supporters have argued that science has not conclusively shown that elevated testosterone provides women with more of a significant competitive edge than factors like nutrition, access to coaching and training facilities, and other genetic and biological variations.

The tennis icon and activist Billie Jean King, an ardent supporter of Semenya’s, wrote on Twitter in February, “My friend Caster Semenya is unequivocally female. Forcing women w/naturally high testosterone to give up ownership of their bodies & take drugs to compete in sport is barbaric, dangerous, and discriminatory.”

When Semenya, then 18, dominated the 800 race at the 2009 world track and field championships, winning by more than two seconds, a fellow competitor called her a man. Pierre Weiss, the general secretary of the I.A.A.F., “She is a woman, but maybe not 100 percent.”

Semenya was barred from competition for months and subjected to humiliating sex tests before returning to the track. It is not known for certain what, if any, procedures were undergone by Semenya, who won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Nor could it be verified, as reported in 2009 in The Daily Telegraph of Australia, that Semenya had internal testes and three times the testosterone level of a typical woman.

Semenya has expressed concern through her lawyers that a rule governing natural testosterone levels continues “the offensive practice of intrusive surveillance and judging of women’s bodies, which has historically haunted women’s sports.”

The ruling by the arbitration court was also watched closely by transgender athletes and by officials of the International Olympic Committee as they prepare to set guidelines for participants in the 2020 Olympics next summer in Tokyo.

Transgender athletes are no longer required to undergo reassignment surgery to participate in the Olympics. Those transitioning from female to male can compete without restriction.