What Happened to Mokgadi Caster Semenya?

Mokgadi Caster Semenya, born on January 7, 1991, rose to international prominence in 2009, winning the 800m gold at the World Championships in Berlin. Her dominant performance, however, immediately triggered a highly publicized and controversial gender verification process by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now World Athletics. This marked the beginning of a prolonged battle over her eligibility to compete in women's athletics due to her naturally elevated testosterone levels, a characteristic associated with Differences of Sex Development (DSD).

The IAAF introduced specific regulations for female athletes with hyperandrogenism in 2011, requiring them to lower their testosterone levels. Semenya initially complied, undergoing hormone treatments, which she later described as unpleasant and detrimental to her health. These rules were temporarily suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2015 following a challenge by Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, allowing Semenya to compete without medication and subsequently win gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2017 World Championships.

In 2018, World Athletics introduced new DSD regulations, specifically targeting events from 400m to one mile, requiring affected athletes to reduce their testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L for at least six months. Semenya refused to comply, arguing the rules were discriminatory and violated her human rights. Her appeals to the CAS and the Swiss Federal Tribunal were unsuccessful, with the latter upholding the DSD regulations in September 2020, stating they were necessary to ensure fair competition. This decision effectively barred her from defending her 800m Olympic title at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games.

Undeterred, Semenya took her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in February 2021. In March 2023, World Athletics further tightened its DSD regulations, lowering the testosterone threshold to 2.5 nmol/L and extending the required suppression period to 24 months for all female DSD athletes in all events. Despite this, in July 2023, the ECtHR delivered a significant, albeit technical, victory for Semenya, ruling that Switzerland had failed to protect her rights to non-discrimination and an effective remedy. However, this ruling did not immediately overturn the World Athletics regulations.

The legal saga continued when Switzerland appealed the ECtHR's 2023 decision to the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR. In a final ruling on July 10, 2025, the Grand Chamber upheld the Swiss Federal Tribunal's earlier decision, finding that Semenya's appeal against World Athletics' regulations had not been 'properly heard' in relation to Switzerland's jurisdiction, but ultimately dismissed her claims under Articles 8 and 14 of the ECHR. This effectively concluded her seven-year legal challenge against the DSD rules.

As of March 29, 2026, Caster Semenya has largely stepped away from elite international competition in events affected by DSD regulations. She has explored longer distances, such as the 5000m, competing at the 2022 World Championships, though without advancing to the finals. Semenya has also released her memoir, 'The Race To Be Myself' (July 2024), and is actively involved in coaching at the TuksAthletics Academy and running the Caster Semenya Foundation. Most recently, on March 29, 2026, she strongly criticized the International Olympic Committee's decision to reinstate sex verification tests for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, calling it 'a disrespect for women' and expressing disappointment in the IOC's leadership.