What does it mean to be a woman in sport? For Caster Semenya, it has meant defending not just her victories, but her very identity. As she battles courts instead of competitors, her story forces us to confront the narrow definitions that still govern women’s sports. It’s time to ask: who gets to decide what makes a woman, and why should any woman be told to change to compete?
In recent years, the world of sports has witnessed growing debates about gender, biology, and fairness. At the heart of this conversation stands a few women, including Caster Semenya, a South African middle-distance runner and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Her story challenges long-standing assumptions about what it means to be a woman and raises questions about how sports authorities define fairness.
After a lengthy and exhausting legal battle to defend her right to compete in female sports, Semanya secured a partial victory on July 10, 2025. The Grand Chamber of the European Courts of Human Rights ruled in her favour. It ruled that she was denied a fair hearing by the Swiss Supreme Court in her challenge against World Athletics’ allegations. Although the court did not overturn the ban against Semanya competing, it acknowledged that the Swiss Supreme Court had mishandled her case.
The ban against Semanya comes as a result of being born with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD), a condition that causes her body to produce naturally higher levels of testosterone than what is typical for women. She was assigned female at birth, identifies as a woman, and has always competed as a woman. Yet, officials have placed her at the centre of a complex and painful debate because of her biology
A hard-fought career blocked by regulations
Despite her talent, work ethic, and discipline, officials have Semenya to defend not just her titles, but her identity. In 2018, World Athletics introduced rules that prevent female athletes with certain DSD conditions from competing in women’s events unless they reduce their natural testosterone levels through medical intervention. These rules directly affect Semenya and others like her, such as Imane Khelif, whose gender was questioned at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
As a result, they barred her from competing in her strongest events, such as the 800 meters, unless she agreed to take medication that would alter her body. However, Semenya has said she will never have the treatment again, having undergone it once before. At 18, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) subjected her to two intrusive “gender-verification” tests without her consent. A gynaecologist also revealed that the IAAF then pushed for young Semenya to have surgery to cut off her testosterone. However, the gynaecologist pushed back against the IAAF, making Semenya reluctantly agree to take hormone-suppressing drugs.
Instead of training to defend her titles, Semenya has since been pulled into a legal battle. She has taken her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights. Each time, she has had to fight to prove something most women never have to: that she is woman enough. These courtrooms have become her new arena, not by choice, but by necessity. And every hearing is a distraction from the track, where her true strengths lie.
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There is no single way to be a woman
The policies that bar Semenya from competing in the female category rely on narrow definitions of womanhood. They assume there is one standard female body, one correct hormone level, one acceptable range of abilities. However, womanhood has never been that simple.
Women come in all forms — tall, short, fast, strong, lean, curvy, and beyond physical differences. Some are born with natural advantages in strength or endurance, just as others have advantages in flexibility or coordination. That’s the nature of sports. We celebrate these differences in most cases. However, for women like Semenya, natural differences have become a reason for exclusion.
It’s important to ask: Why should society punish a woman for the body she was born with? Semenya did not cheat, nor did she take banned substances. She trained, sacrificed and won. Despite her demonstrated excellence, there remains a perception that her performance is due to its divergence from established norms for female performance.
What this means for all women
Caster Semenya’s story is not just about elite athletes. It touches on broader issues that affect many women. Being told to change, shrink, or prove themselves worthy. It reminds us how society can be quick to police women’s bodies, especially when those bodies break the mould.
Her case also forces us to look closely at who gets to define fairness. Is it fair to ask women to alter their biology to compete? Is it fair to strip them of medals, records, and opportunities because they were born different? And most of all, is it fair to silence women who don’t fit the norm?
Semenya’s ongoing legal struggle is about more than medals. It’s about dignity, respect and the right to compete as you are, not as others think you should be.
Sport should be a place where hard work, passion, and talent shine, not where women are told they must change to belong. Women like Semenya remind us that strength comes in many forms and that fairness must include every woman, not just those who fit into a narrow box.
Caster Semenya deserves more than legal battles. She deserves to run and not be seen as a problem, but as a powerful example of how diverse women in sport can look today.
