Athletics
SEMENYA RELEASES EXPERT WITNESS LIST AFTER ACCUSING IAAF OF UNDERHAND TACTICS
BY JAMES DIAMOND
Two-time Olympic 800 metres champion Caster Semenya has released a list of seven expert witness who will testify for her at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as the South African challenges a prospective ruling from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which could see her banned from competing against women.
The
28-year-old, who is also a three-time world champion, launched a legal case
after the IAAF announced a new rule which, if upheld by CAS, would force her to
take medication to reduce her testosterone levels or compete against men.
The IAAF has long argued that female athletes like Semenya, who have unusually high levels of testosterone caused by differences of sexual development (DSD) have an unfair advantage over women with normal testosterone levels.
They
have received widespread criticism for their stance and a case on the issue
began at the CAS in Lausanne yesterday.
As proceedings began the IAAF released the names of expert witnesses it plans to call at the case, which sparked uproar among Semenya’s legal team, who claimed the disclosure breached the court’s confidentiality rules.
“Ms Semenya believes the IAAF press release is a clear breach of the confidentiality provisions that was orchestrated in an effort to influence public opinion in circumstances where the IAAF knew that Ms Semenya would not be prepared to respond because she was complying with her confidentiality obligations,” they said.
The experts the IAAF named included Angelica Linden Hirschberg, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in Stockholm, David Handelsman, a professor of reproductive endocrinology and andrology in Sydney and Doriane Lambelet Coleman, who is a professor of law at Duke Law School in the United States and is also a former two-time Swiss national champion over 800m.
In response Semenya’s lawyers said the CAS had granted permission for her to release a list of her own “as a matter of fairness” and she has now done so.
It lists seven individuals including another professor of obstetrics and gynecology Veronica Gomez-Lobo, who works at Georgetown University in the United States.
Also named is the director of the Sports Genomics Laboratory at Manchester Metropolitan University Alun Williams, who Semenya’s team say has published “numerous academic papers on the topic” and Roger Pielke Jr, the director of the Sports Governance Centre at the University of Colorado.
“She is grateful to the CAS for opportunity to present her case and for granting her permission to disclose her list of experts publicly in response to the IAAF,” Semenya’s lawyers said yesterday.
“Going forward, the CAS has reiterated that the arbitration proceedings are confidential and information about the case should not be disclosed publicly.”
The other names on Semenya’s list are Eric Vilain, a geneticist specialising in gender based and endocrine genetics including DSD, Dankmar Bohning, Richard Holt and Anthony C Hackney.
Bohning is a professor of medical statistics at the University of Southampton, Holt is a professor of diabetes and endocrinology, also at the University of Southampton and Hackney is a professor at the University of North Carolina in the US, who holds a PhD in exercise physiology.
The case is due to be heard by the CAS for at least five days, with a verdict expected in March.
Since Semenya announced her legal challenge last year various bodies have announced their public support, including three human rights experts at the United Nations who called the IAAF’s stance “unjustifiable”, the group Human Rights Watch, the Women’s Sport Foundation and the South African Government.
The IAAF however has remained insistent that the rule is necessary in the interest of fairness.
“The core value for the IAAF is the empowerment of girls and women through athletics,” IAAF President Sebastian Coe said, as he arrived at the CAS in Lausanne.
“The regulations that we are introducing are there to protect the sanctity of fair and open competition.”
If the rule is upheld it will come into force on March 26 and will see Semenya unable to compete for much of the 2019 outdoor season.
This is because the rule dictates athletes with her condition must take medication to reduce their testosterone levels for at least six months before competing.
– INSIDE THE GAMES
BY DAPO SOTUMINU
Nigeria’s Francis James and Blessing Shambaz yesterday emerged winners of the 2nd Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race to go home with the winners prize money of $1,000 in a race that was officially flagged off by the First vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Chief Solomon Ogba, and supported by Mr. Nadin Khan, the president of the World Ultra Running.
James won the men’s race finishing at 30minutes 11seconds to beat all opponents to consolidate on his victory in Abuja when he finished second best in the half marathon held in the Federal Capital Territory middle of the year.
James also emerged the Nigeria’s winner of the World class half marathon.
It will be recalled that James at his last major race in Abuja finished second place in a national half marathon race. He stressed that he used that race to prepare for the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race and he was very happy winning the race.
He stressed that, the victory at Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10m Race has given him the confidence to do better in others races coming up in Nigeria and its an indication, that he’s very close to making history for Nigeria in subsequent marathon races. He added that, Nigerian runners will pull surprise in the others races not minding the attendance of the East Africans.
In second place for the men’s race is Gyang Raymond at a time of 30 minutes 14 seconds. Gyang got $750 for his effort. While the third place winner is Gyang David Boyi at 30 minutes 54 seconds. Boyi got a cash prize of $500.
In the women 10km race, the runners up that placed second was Daylop Patience at a time of 36minutes 98.28seconds to keep her position in last year’s edition. She got $750.
Third place winner is Agofure Charity at 37minutes 88 seconds.She got $500.
The overall 10km also saw the race by special athletes.
The route of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race wore a very active look this morning with the active presence of Febbs table water, a part sponsor of the event.
The volunteers on each points on the route all had Febbs Water on their hands ready to hand them over the runners. The organisers decorated all the runners that crossed the finish line with gold medals, this added to the fanfare and celebrations at the Alake Palace finish line of the race.
The Diamond League will increase its prize money to more than $9 million in 2025, the highest in the history of the series, the organisers have said.
Athletes will make a total of $18 million, with top athletes also receiving promotional fees. Male and female athletes will be paid at the same rate, the Diamond League said in a statement.
“The new total is almost a third higher than the sum paid during the pandemic-affected period of 2021-2024,” the statement said, adding that more will be invested in the athletes’ travel, transport, accommodation, medical and physio services.
Each of the 14 Diamond League meets of the 2025 regular season, scheduled to kick off in April, will award a total prize money of $500,000, with the final in August offering $2.24 million.
“The total prize money per discipline will be between $30,000 and $50,000 at the series meetings and between $60,000 and $100,000 at the final,” the statement added.
The Diamond League’s 2024 season concluded in Brussels last week, with Zurich set to host the 2025 final.
The news comes after World Athletics ended a 128-year tradition by paying Olympic champions at the Paris Games $50,000 each and as rival track events try to muscle in on the circuit long seen as the standard-bearer for professional athletics.
Retired American sprinting great Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track will offer prize money ranging from $100,000 for the winner to $10,000 for the eighth-place finisher at each of four “slams” when the league launches next year.
It will distribute a total of $12.6 million in prize money in 2025.
“In a league of our own,” Grand Slam Track wrote in a post on X, opens new tab on Wednesday, with a breakdown of their prize money.
-Reuters
A record 6,000 runners, local and international from across the African continent and Nigeria have registered for the second edition of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Run slated for September 28, 2024, as the organisers, Nilayo Sports Management Limited guns for a bronze label status for the race.
The Chief Operating Officer of Nilayo Sports Management Limited, Ebidowie Oweifie, noted that the theme of this year’s edition of the Abeokuta 10km Race titled ‘For Greatness’ out is out to commemorate the birthday anniversary of the Egba paramount ruler, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo 111, the 10km Run will flag off at Iyana Oloke at 6am and finish at The Alake Palace, Abeokuta.
Kenya’s Peter Nwaniki is the men’s race defending champion at a time of 28 minutes 14 seconds, while Shamila Kipsirir also of Kenya is the women’s defending champion.
Nigeria’s race men’s defending champion is Francis James at 31minutes 08seconds, while the women’s defending champion is Patience Daylop at 36 minutes 31 seconds.
The second edition of Abeokuta10km Race will be sponsored by Lotus Bank, FEBBS Premium Water, Fatgbems Petroleum Limited and Cash Token.
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