“The regulations would now only apply to athletes with what they called “differences in sexual development” (DSD) and only to those competing in the 400-, 800-, and 1500-m distances. Since Dutee Chand was a 100-m runner, she would not be affected by these rules. The IAAF didn’t need to address her case. The testosterone limit would need to be lowered from the original 10 nmol/L they’d announced in 2011 down to 5 nmol/L for a period of six months before an affected athlete was eligible to compete.

“I am the fourth fastest 800-m runner in the history of the sport. And as far as I know, not one of the women who have run the 800 meter faster than me had my condition. I had differences in my body, yes, but it should be common sense that whatever my testosterone level may be, it does not make me male. And if speed was all about testosterone, then why wasn’t I as fast as my male colleagues? An elite male athlete with natural testosterone levels in the accepted female range would still outrun me by the 10 percent to 12 percent performance gap.

“On May 29, my team appealed the CAS verdict to the Swiss Supreme Court on the grounds that it was discriminatory, and I put out a public statement: “I am a woman and I am a world-class athlete. The IAAF will not drug me or stop me from being who I am.” This fight had gone beyond me proving I had no physiological advantage on the field over other women. This fight was about human rights. It was wrong to compel perfectly healthy people to harm themselves to participate in a sport based on manufactured evidence. A few days later, on June 3rd, the Swiss Court suspended the CAS ruling.

“It would be better for athletics and athletes if Sebastian Coe focused on real cheaters instead of focusing on rare but completely natural biological variations in women or the transgendered athletes who are supposedly waiting to take women’s medals. It would be even better if the sporting powers focused on the things that women really need to become better athletes—they can start with equitable pay, making sure we can do our jobs without being harassed physically and mentally, creating a system where resources are distributed fairly.” (Semenya “The Race To Be Myself”, p.295)

“I think of marathoner Eliud Kipchoge’s words on his success: “Learn to say no, learn self-discipline, avoid complaining.

“The IAAF thought they could shame me off the track back in 2009, but things didn’t turn out the way they usually did. We may have lost the legal battles, but I won where it matters—I still became a champion, and the IAAF exposed their true nature. This thing is no longer about secret conversations and secret surgeries and secret medication. Now the world knows more about what they have done and what they want to continue to do.