Caster Semenya’s sex eligibility battle has confounded sports for 16 years and still isn’t over She was assigned female at birth, raised as a girl and has always identified as female. After years of secrecy because of medical confidentiality, it was made public in 2018 that she has one of a number of conditions known as differences of sex development, or DSDs…

Caster Semenya’s sex eligibility battle has confounded sports for 16 years and still isn’t over

 

For 16 years, Caster Semenya has been at the center of one of the most contentious and complex debates in modern sports: who is eligible to compete in the female category. Despite being assigned female at birth, raised as a girl, and identifying as a woman her entire life, Semenya has faced persistent scrutiny, legal challenges, and disqualification over her natural testosterone levels — and the battle is still not over.

Semenya, a two-time Olympic gold medalist from South Africa, was thrust into the global spotlight after winning the women’s 800 meters at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin. Almost immediately, questions were raised about her gender, prompting international media attention and behind-the-scenes medical examinations. For years, the details of her case remained secret due to medical confidentiality.

It wasn’t until 2018 that it was publicly confirmed that Semenya has a condition known as a difference of sex development (DSD), which can result in higher than typical testosterone levels for women. These conditions are rare and often misunderstood, but they do not change the fact that Semenya has always lived and competed as a woman.

In 2019, World Athletics (formerly the IAAF) introduced regulations requiring DSD athletes to lower their natural testosterone levels if they wished to compete in certain female events, including the 800 meters — Semenya’s specialty. The rules forced her to choose between undergoing hormone-suppressing treatment or being barred from her best events. She refused, citing both health risks and human rights concerns.

Semenya took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which upheld the regulations in a controversial decision. She then appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which also sided with World Athletics. In a landmark move, she brought her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which ruled in 2023 that her rights had been violated — a moral victory but not one that changed the sporting rules.

Despite the ECHR ruling, World Athletics continues to enforce its DSD regulations. Semenya, now 34, remains unable to compete in the 800 meters unless she agrees to medically lower her testosterone levels. She has shifted her focus to longer distances and advocacy, but the fight for her right to compete in her chosen event continues.

Supporters argue that Semenya is being punished for her natural biology and that the regulations target a small, specific group of women — often women of color from the Global South — with invasive scrutiny. Critics of the rules say they reflect outdated and biased views of gender and fairness in sport.

With no clear resolution in sight and Semenya still barred from the race she once dominated, her case continues to provoke global debate. What began as a question of athletic eligibility has grown into a broader reckoning about gender, science, and human rights in sport.

For Semenya, the struggle has never just been about medals — it’s about dignity, identity, and the right to run as herself.