IAAF meets Swiss court deadline in Caster Semenya case

The track and field’s governing body explains why rules limiting female runners’ testosterone levels should be re-imposed.

Caster Semenya is currently on track to defend her world title in September in Doha. Photo: AP

Track and field’s governing body says it met a Swiss supreme court deadline to explain why rules limiting female runners’ testosterone levels should be re-imposed during Caster Semenya’s appeal.

The IAAF had until Tuesday to respond to a federal judge’s grant of a special interim order this month which suspended the rules. The judge must now decide whether two-time Olympic champion Semenya can continue competing over 800 metres without taking testosterone suppressing medication pending the full appeal.

That final hearing with a panel of judges will likely take several months, but the next ruling from the single judge could come within days. The South African is currently on track to defend her world title in September in Doha, Qatar.

Read | Semenya to race 800m for first time since gender ban

She ultimately wants the Swiss Federal Tribunal to overturn a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in May which upheld the IAAF’s rules applying to female middle-distance runners with “differences of sex development (DSD).”

In court, the IAAF described Semenya and others as “biologically male athletes with female gender identities.”

The track body says in a statement on Tuesday it “continues to believe in equal rights and opportunities for all women and girls in our sport today and in the future.”