South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya is speaking up, as the two-time Olympic gold medalist voiced concerns about Thursday's IOC decision to reinstate sex verification tests for women's sports athletes.
"For you as a woman, why will you be tested to prove that you fit?" Semenya said, calling the new screening "a disrespect."
"You know, it's like now we need to prove that we are worthy as women to take part in sports," she continued.
Thursday's move effectively bans transgender women athletes as well as competitors who have one of the many Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) — a category of congenital conditions in which a person's chromosomes, hormones, and/or reproductive anatomy does not fit neatly into the male/female binary.
Approximately one in every 100 people is born with DSD — including Semenya, whose diagnosis revealed a condition that impacts her chromosomes and hormone levels.
The 2012 and 2016 Olympic 800-meter champion has been advocating against the IOC's restrictive gender testing since 2016.
Notably, the IOC abandoned the screenings in 1999 due to ineffectiveness, with the Committee now reinstating the policy ahead of the 2028 LA Olympics.
According to the Committee, the move will "ensure fairness" and "protect safety" of female athletes.
All women's sports athletes must now undergo a saliva, cheek swab, or blood test for the SRY gene, with the results applying to all lifetime competitions "unless there is reason to believe that a negative reading is in error."
The screening requirement will limit "eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports... to biological females" the IOC said on Thursday.
