Semenya gets support in IAAF rules row

LONDON: South Africa’s top athletics official has told the IAAF he would have liked more consultation before track and field’s world body introduced controversial new rules on testosterone occurring in female athletes, which have since been challenged by Caster Semenya.

Semenya, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and twice world champion for South Africa over 800m, has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to declare as unlawful the IAAF’s ‘Eligibility Regulations for Female Classification (Athletes with Differences of Sex Development {DSD})’ that are due to come into effect on November 1, 2018. The powerfully-built Semenya is potentially the highest-profile female athlete that would be affected by such regulations.