|
The double Olympic and triple world 800 metres
champion faces having to take medication to lower her higher
than normal levels of naturally-produced testosterone, which the
sport's governing IAAF has deemed gives her an unfair advantage.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright said in a statement that the
legal challenge would be filed on Monday at the CAS in Lausanne.
"Ms Semenya, like all athletes, is entitled to compete the way
she was born without being obliged to alter her body by any
medical means," Norton Rose Fulbright said.
Controversy has never been far from the South African, now 27,
since her teenage success in the 800m at the 2009 world
championships in Berlin, where the pure power of her surge to
victory sparked question marks about her sexuality.
Testosterone is a hormone that increases muscle mass, strength
and haemoglobin, which affects endurance. The IAAF rule, which
comes into force on Nov. 1, is not directly aimed at Semenya but
she will be most affected by it.
South African media and politicians have rallied to her defence
and called the IAAF actions a "witch hunt."
"I just want to run naturally, the way I was born. It is not
fair that I am told I must change. It is not fair that people
question who I am. I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and
I am fast," Semenya was quoted as saying in the Norton Rose
Fulbright statement.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia and David
Stamp)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
