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Semenya testosterone ruling to be appealed

Athletics South Africa is appealing the CAS's decision against Caster Semenya

On Monday morning, Athletics South Africa announced that they will appeal the CAS’s decision to support the IAAF in their testosterone cap for female athletes.

RELATED: What’s next for Caster Semenya?

Inside the Games reports that an appeal would have to be filed by ASA at the Swiss Federal Tribunal and be done before the end of the month, 30 days after the judgment was issued on May 1. According to Inside the Games, ASA is appealing on the basis of “The judges’ past record on similar cases, lack of clarity over how the ruling could be implemented and how the evidence was handled.”

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Caster Semenya, who competes under Athletics South Africa, hinted at the possibility of an appeal when she told reporters that she didn’t plan on taking oral contraceptives to lower her testosterone. The direct quote from the runner was, “Hell, no.” She also indicated she would not consider moving up to the 5,000m (which is not covered by the rule), despite racing the distance recently at the South African national championships and prompting many to speculate that she may be resigned to changing distances in order to avoid the testosterone rule. (She could also have opted to move down to the 200m distance, which also is not covered by the rule, but this seemed unlikely.)

The current ruling declares that athletes with DSD must take steps to lower their testosterone to not more than five nmol/L by May 8 to be eligible to compete in this year’s world championships in Doha in September at any distance from 400m through the mile.

The Times Live reports that the appeal could take up to six months, which would be too late for Semenya to compete at the upcoming World Championships in Doha.

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