Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya’s appeal against a regulation restricting testosterone levels in female runners began on Monday – as the head of world athletics again defended the rule.
South African Semenya, 28, is seeking to overturn the regulation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
But IAAF president Lord Coe said it would “protect the sanctity of fair and open competition”.
The appeal, being heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, could be a landmark case for the sport with wide-reaching consequences.
Semenya believes the IAAF breached confidentiality rules of the hearing after they released the names of five expert witnesses they will bring to the CAS to testify on their behalf.
In a statement, IAAF said: “To preserve fair competition in the female category, it is necessary to require DSD (disorder of sexual differentiation) athletes to reduce their testosterone down to female levels before they compete at international levels.”
The battle between Semenya and the federation dates back to 2009, when Semenya was just 18 years old when she had competed and won her first senior championship in Berlin.
Semenya had to undergo gender verification tests before she could be handed her medal.
The IAAF is adamant it has evidence to support its testosterone limit and is intending to introduce the rule on 26 March, six months later than planned to allow for Semenya’s challenge.
If the rule survives Semenya’s challenge, athletes wishing to compete in the relevant events will need to reduce their testosterone levels to five nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) for at least six months before racing.
South Africans had called out controversial British personality Katie Hopkins after her earlier Caster Semenya comments.
Open on her views that Semenya should not be classified as a woman when it comes to participating in athletics, this is not the first time that Hopkins has taken to social media to air her views on the 800m Olympic champion.
After Semenya was married in January 2017, Hopkins posted: “Back in January Caster even married her girlfriend in a traditional wedding ceremony, appearing in the guise of a man.”