The right of Casteter Semenya to a fair hearing was violated by the Swiss Supreme Court when he lost an appeal of 2020 against the global athletics regulations that forbade him to compete, the Superior Court of Europe has governed.
The double Olympic champion of 800 m won a partial victory in the European Court of Human Rights (CEDH) in his long legal battle over the rules of sexual eligibility of athletics.
Semenya, 34, was born with differences in sexual development (DSD) and has not been able to compete in the 800 meters since World Athletics brought rules in 2019 restricting testosterone levels for follow -up events of 400m to the mile.
The distance corridor of the distance of South Africa believes that world athletics has shown discrimination against athletes with DSD by insisting that they reduce testosterone levels to be eligible.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the verdict, Semeja said: “This is bigger than we think. I do not think it is about competition. It is about human rights. It is about the protection of athletes.
“My role is to become a voice for those who can’t speak.”
The governing body of athletics insists on the rules, which in 2023 expanded to cover all female athletics events, are needed to guarantee fair competition and protect the female category.
Semenya was the Olympic champion of more than 800m in 2012 and 2016.
In 2019, I without success challenges the rules of World Athletics in the Arbitration Court for Sports (CAS) based in Switzerland.
In July 2023, the ELDH failed in favor of Semenya in a case related to testosterone levels in female athletes.
The CEDH case was not against sports agencies or DSD rules, but specifically against the Switzerland government for not protecting semeas and dates back to a failure of the Swiss Supreme Court since 2020.
The Switzerland government requested that the matter be sent to the Great Chamber of CEDH, which now discovered that the Swiss ruling “had not satisfied the request for particular rigor” under article 6 (right to a fair hearing) of European rights.
The judges said that the revision of the Swiss court “had fallen short” of that requirement.
However, the Great Chamber found the complaints of Semeasya under articles 8 (right to respect for private life), 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) inadmissible since “they did not fall within the switzerdiction.”
As the case transmits to the Swiss government and not world athletics, it does not immediately affect current restrictions on DSD athletes.
Semenya said that the result was “too casual,” and added: “For someone who has been waiting for about 15 years, to be able to hear that, I mean, you know, you feel hearing, it is a beautiful sensation.
“The past is the past. I mean, we focus on the future. I will say that at this time I will say reborn. And I feel satisfied.”
The decisions taken by the Great CEDH Chamber are not open to the appeal.
The case of Semenya could now return to the Swiss Federal Court in Lausana.
The athlete’s lawyer, Schona Jolly, said they needed time to process the ruling before deciding on the next movement, but told BBC Sport Semenya “has been claimed.”
“As of today, the International Sports Government must sit and realize the fundamental rights of an athlete,” Jolly said.
“It is not possible to put this aside and say” the substantive rights of the athlete do not matter. “They do it firmly.”
South Africa Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie welcomed the ruling, saying: “Casteter Semenya has become the face of the challenge against injustice in global sport, and this victory in court is a victory for each African child.”
World athletics declined to comment.