A scientific paper published Monday found that women who produce higher-than-normal amounts of testosterone have up to a 4.5 percent advantage over their competition on the track, evidence the sport’s governing body will use to potentially sideline Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya and others with so-called intersex conditions.
The International Association of Athletics Federations will use the new study in its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which suspended an IAAF rule that enforced a limit on female athletes’ naturally occurring testosterone levels. The appeal will not affect this year’s world championships, where Semenya is expected to go for her third title at 800m
The study, funded by IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency, and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, analyzed more than 2,100 androgen samples from athletes participating in the 2011 and 2013 world championships.