South Africa’s Caster Semenya competes in the women’s 800-meter final during the Diamond League in Doha, Qatar, Friday, May 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

A Spanish professor of biochemistry José María Odriozola has astonishingly declared that, because Caster Semenya has more testosterone than most men, she has an undoubted advantage

Odriozola, who is a member of the IAAF Board of Directors, made the comment during an interview with Spanish Sport magazine.

The former president of the Spanish athletics federation, Odriozola, has backed the newly-implemented testosterone restrictions imposed on female athletes, insisting that Semenya is a “biological man”.

“She says the IAAF is against her, but the rules are for everyone,” he said.

“Her case comes from the World Championships in Berlin 2009. She has XY chromosomes, like men, and then a series of hormonal internal controls that make her hyperandrogenic.

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“Semenya has more testosterone than most men and that gives her an undoubted advantage,” Odriozola added, emphasising that the IAAF’s rule was aimed at ensuring fair competition.

Semenya lost a landmark case against the IAAF at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in May, which means that she will have to take medication to reduce her testosterone levels if she wants to continue running on the world stage.

When making its verdict, CAS admitted the rule was “discriminatory” but it also said that the policy was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to protect the fairness of women’s sport.

The 28-year-old middle-distance athlete is attempting to block new rules on female participation brought in by the IAAF, who insists that they are to create a level playing field.

Semenya will miss next month’s IAAF World Championships in Qatar because of the verdict.

She initially received permission to compete pending an appeal but this was overturned by the Swiss Supreme Court last month.

Semenya has argued that her testosterone levels occur naturally. Her supporters include the World Medical Association and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Under the new IAAF regulations, female runners with excessive testosterone are obliged to medically reduce it to be eligible to compete internationally.

Author: ANA Newswire