The Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya could run up to seven seconds slower under new rules requiring her to lower her natural testosterone levels to race internationally, a prominent sports scientist has predicted. “If this policy passes, then I would predict that Semenya will be five to seven seconds slower over 800 metres,” he wrote. The decisive factor for the Cas panel in 2015 was whether testosterone above the 10nmol/L threshold set by the IAAF gave female athletes a competitive advantage over their fellow competitors. Therefore, in addition to separate competition categories based on age, the IAAF has also created separate competition categories for male and female athletes. As noted above, the CAS has found that this difference justifies protecting female athletes from competition from male athletes.”

Source: The Guardian April 25, 2018 18:33 UTC