Semenya arrives for landmark case at Swiss sports tribunal

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Caster Semenya has arrived at international sport’s best-known tribunal for a hearing in a landmark case that will challenge science and gender politics.

The two-time Olympic 800-meter champion from South Africa didn’t take questions as she arrived at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has proposed eligibility rules for hyperandrogenic athletes that Semenya wants to overturn.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe told reporters on his way in Monday: “The core value for the IAAF is the empowerment of girls and women through athletics. The regulations that we are introducing are there to protect the sanctity of fair and open competition.”

A scheduled five-day appeal case is among the longest ever heard by CAS.

The IAAF wants to require women with naturally elevated testosterone to lower their levels by medication before being allowed to compete in world-class races from 400 meters to one mile.