CAPE TOWN, May 3 (Xinhua) -- South African lawmakers on Friday urged Caster Semenya to continue running following a court ruling which bars her from the women's athletics categories because of her high testosterone levels.
This came after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday turned down the appeal by Semenya, a South African female athlet, and Athletics South Africa (ASA) against the new hyperandrogenism rules that bar female athlets with high testosterone levesl from participating in the women's athletics categories.
"We had hoped for a different outcome, one that would have put to rest the controversy surrounding Caster," said Beauty Dlulane, Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation.
Dlulane voiced support for the decision of Semenya's legal team going forward.
"The committee wishes her well in tonight's competition in Doha," Dlulane said.
Semenya has made a last-minute decision to run in the 800m in Doha for the first Diamond League event on Friday, which will be the last time she can compete in her favorite event before the new rules requiring athletes with differences in sex development to take medication to reduce their testosterone are introduced.
Last year, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced the hyperandrogenism rules which would determine eligibility classification of female athletes with hyperandrogenism to participate in the women's athletics categories and the conditions under which they would be allowed to compete.
