A South African female athlete competing in a track and field event, showcasing athleticism and determination.
Caster Semenya, the two-time Olympic 800-meter champion, has condemned the International Olympic Committee’s decision to reinstate gender verification tests for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, calling it a profound disrespect to women. The South African sprinter, who has spent over a decade fighting sex eligibility rules, expressed particular disappointment that the policy shift came under new IOC President Kirsty Coventry, the first African woman to hold the role. Under the new rules, eligibility for women’s events will require a one-time genetic screening to confirm biological sex—a move that aligns with a US executive order while resurrecting testing methods abandoned in 1999. For Semenya, who won a partial European court victory last year, the decision feels like a painful step backward for athletes from the Global South.
Al Jazeera