Nineteen experts – that’s how many people will be testifying in defence of Caster Semenya at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland this week.
Semenya has 10 representatives from across the world in her corner, while Athletics South Africa (ASA) will make use of nine more, mainly from Mzansi, to present their case against the IAAF as well.
Both Semenya and ASA want the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to rule that the IAAF’s impending regulations to force female athletes with high testosterone levels to take medication to reduce it – for middle-distance events – as unlawful.
ASA said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that while Semenya has her own experts, they have “taken up the challenge on behalf of all affected female athletes worldwide, both current and in future as we believe that the regulations predominantly target African athletes”.
ASA say they will argue that the new regulations discriminate against certain female athletes on the basis of natural physical characteristics, or sex; that it would constitute an infringement of the right of the affected female athletes to human dignity; violate fundamental human rights of affected athletes; and would be an infringement of the right of the affected female athletes to private life, which includes the right to the protection of a person’s moral and psychological integrity, as well as the right to choose, or to exercise personal autonomy.
Caster Semenya’s Team
1 Professor Veronica Gomez-Lobo:
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University and the Director of the DSD Clinic at the Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC.
2 Dr Alun Williams:
Director of the Sports Genomics Laboratory at Manchester Metropolitan University. He specialises in genetic differences that impact athletic performance.
3 Professor Eric Vilain:
A geneticist specialised in gender-based and endocrine genetics, including DSD. He has spent almost a decade analysing whether female athletes with DSD should be subject to regulation.
4 Professor Roger Pielke Jr:
The director of the Sports Governance Center at the University of Colorado. He holds degrees in mathematics, public policy and political science.
5 Professor Dankmar Böhning:
Professor and the Chair in Medical Statistics at the University of Southampton. He holds a PhD in mathematics and is an expert in statistics, with a specialty in statistical analysis of medical data.
6 Professor Richard Holt:
Professor of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the University of Southampton and a specialist doctor at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
7 Professor Anthony C Hackney:
Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with joint appointments in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science and the Department of Nutrition School of Public Health.
8 Dr Lih-Mei Liao:
Licensed clinical psychologist and health psychologist in the UK. She has worked extensively with women diagnosed with a range of DSD conditions.
9 Dr Payoshni Mitra:
Scholar and advocate with a decade of experience working closely with athletes with hyperandrogenism and/or DSD from the Global South. Her work focuses on the mental and physical harm caused by the regulation and testing of such athletes.
10 Ms Ashley LaBrie:
Executive Director of AthletesCAN, an independent not-for-profit organisation that represents the interests of all national team athletes in Canada.
Caster Semenya Legal Team
* Jim Bunting and Carlos Sayao: Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Toronto, Canada
* Greg Nott, Patrick Bracher and Sandra Sithole: Norton Rose Fulbright, Johannesburg, South Africa
Athletics South Africa Team
1 Madeleine Pape:
She is an Olympian who represented Australia in the 800m at the international level from 2006 until 2010. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
2 Professor Ross Tucker:
He has a PhD in Exercise Physiology studying fatigue, the brain and the limits to performance. He is a science and research consultant for World Rugby.
Professor Ross Tucker has a PhD in Exercise Physiology, studying fatigue, the brain and the limits to performance. Photo: Candice Chaplin/African News Agency/ANA
3 Professor Wayne Derman:
He is a Professor and Director of the Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine at Stellenbosch University, and is a past president of the South African Sports Medicine Association. The Professor has played an important role in clinical support for South Africa’s athletes at International level.
4 Dr Jeroen Swart:
He has a MBChB, MPhil (Sports & Exercise Medicine), PhD (Exercise Science) and is the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) Chair of Scientific, Technical & Research Commission and Head of Sports & Exercise Medicine programme at the University of Cape Town & Sports Science Institute of South Africa.
5 Professor Carl Lombard:
(MSC) PHD He is an experienced Biostatistician with more than 30 years of research work at the South African Medical Research Council.
6 Dr Ariane Spitaels:
Registered as a paediatrician 1998, and endocrinologist 2007, she has worked as a paediatrician with a special interest in Endocrinology and Diabetes since June 2000, and has treated many transgender individuals, including DSD patients.
7 Professor Mark Engel:
He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital.
8 Professor Joel Dave:
Head of Division of Endocrinology, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town.
9 Professor Marc Blockman:
He is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital.
ASA Legal Team:
* Advocate Norman Arendse SC, Advocate Ncumisa Mayosi, Dev Maharaj, Shikar Maharaj.
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