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Olympic champion Caster Semenya said being “born with internal testicles doesn’t make her any less of a woman” and accused sports leaders of “turning women against each other” as she continues its battle with the sports authorities.
The 32-year-old South African runner, who won Olympic gold over 800 meters in 2012 and 2016, said she “won’t be ashamed because I’m different” and will “fight for this which is right” in athletics.
Semenya was legally identified as female at birth, but suffers from a condition that means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than unaffected women.
But in 2018, World Athletics introduced rules stating that Semenya and other athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) had to take antihormonal drugs to compete in distances between 400m and a mile.
Semenya has since refused to take medication, meaning she has been unable to compete in her favorite distance of 800 meters.
But the Olympic champion continues to battle sports authorities, hoping to overturn demands that female athletes with differences in sexual development reduce their levels of testosterone, a hormone that increases muscle mass and strength.
“It’s no longer about me fighting to compete, it’s about me fighting for what’s right,” Semenya told BBC Sport. “Fight for the generation to come, because many children are affected by the same judgment.”
The 32-year-old South African runner, who won Olympic gold over 800 meters in 2012 and 2016, said she “won’t be ashamed because I’m different” and will “fight for this which is right” in athletics.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya competes in the women’s 1500m final at Carrara Stadium during the 2018 Commonwealth Games
She added: “I’m a woman, I have a vagina like any other woman… I know I’m a woman, I don’t really care about medical terms – my testosterone, you know, being born without a uterus. , being born with internal testicles does not make me any less of a woman.
“The difference is what I was born with and I accept them. I will not be ashamed because I am different. I am different, I am special and I am grateful.
After an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2019 and to the Swiss Federal Court in 2020, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Semenya in July this year by a majority of four to three, saying her appeal was not properly heard and she was discriminated against.
But the Swiss authorities, supported by World Athletics, had announced their intention to bring the case before the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, whose decisions are binding. The Grand Chamber agreed on Monday to rule on the case.
Semenya said she was not focused on competing, with next year’s Olympics not in her plans, but was instead focused on fighting for “justice, inclusion and equality.” diversity “.
“The importance of women’s sport has not been taken seriously,” she said. “As women we have to take charge of our own bodies, we have to decide what is good for us – and it is not for another gender to tell us what we should look like, if we are female enough or not. It’s up to us.’
In response to the ECHR ruling, World Athletics defended its regulations as a “necessary, reasonable and proportionate means to protect fair competition in the women’s category”.
But in response, Semenya told the BBC: “My testosterone is high, it’s not active because I’m not a man. I believe I have the right, like any other woman, to compete as a woman.
“For me, I want to empower women…you have to go out and fight for what’s right. I know what is right.
Semenya, who won Olympic gold over 800m in 2012 and 2016 and is a three-time world champion over the same distance, said last week that she had achieved everything she wanted on the track and that she was now focused on his battle with the sporting authorities.
“For me, I’m not going to allow leaders who come through selfish means to come into our business to destroy it. My goal is to empower women and ensure they have a voice.
The decision handed down by the ECHR in July was largely symbolic in that it did not call into question World Athletics’ decision and did not pave the way for Semenya to return to competition without taking medication.
Caster Semenya celebrates with her gold medal during the Women’s 800m Final at the Carrara Stadium during day nine of the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Caster Semenya of South Africa, Charlene Lipsey of the United States and Lynsey Sharp of England compete in the women’s 800 meters semi-final at the World Athletics Championships in August 2017.
Pictured: Semenya takes part in a race in her youth
World Athletics introduced the DSD regulations to create a level playing field in women’s events ranging from the 400m to the mile.
Semenya was forced to move up to the 5,000m, a distance she failed to reach the final at last year’s world championships in Eugene, Oregon.
In March this year, the federation changed the rules. DSD athletes must now reduce their blood testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter, up from five, and stay below this threshold for two years.
World Athletics has also removed the principle of restricted events for DSD athletes, meaning the regulations now cover all distances.
During her career, Semenya had her private medical records leaked after she had to take a test to prove she was a biological female. The results revealed that she was born without ovaries or uterus and had internal testicles.
Her testosterone level was three times what was then considered “normal” for a woman.
She had to take a test to prove she was female, which revealed that her reproductive organs were different from those of most women – something the athlete did not previously know.
The test results were ultimately leaked without his consent and made public.