Three key points on Caster Semenya and CAS award: 'She was born a woman'

After Caster Semenya welcomed the publication of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS's) arbitral award, key points on the decision have been explained.

The award ruled in favour of IAAF's decision to compel women with differences of sexual development (DSD) to take oral contraceptives to lower their testosterone when competing in events between 400m and 1,500m in length.

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Here are three key points from the CAS award:

Born female

The CAS panel stated that Semenya is a woman.

"At birth, it was determined that she was female, so she was born a woman."

Discrimination was proportionate

The CAS panel found that the IAAF regulations were discriminatory, with two of the three board members finding that the discrimination was proportionate.

"The award makes it clear that they did so only based on the assumption that women athletes could comply with the regulations by taking oral contraceptives."

Oral contraceptives may not be suitable

CAS expressed its concern that oral contraceptives may not be suitable for all competitors to ensure compliance.

"The CAS expressed‚ not less than four times‚ its concern‚ or even 'grave concerns'‚ over female athletes' 'potential inability to remain in compliance with the regulations'.

"Such a repeated expression of concerns is unprecedented and the CAS 'strongly encourages the IAAF to address the panel's concerns' and warned of the possibility that‚ when more evidence emerges as the IAAF implements its regulations‚ the proportionality of the regulations may need to be reassessed."