Athletics
CAS VERDICT: WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION BACKS SEMENYA
BY LIAM MORGAN
The World Medical Association (WMA) has urged its members not to administer drugs which lower the level of testosterone in female athletes with differences in sexual development to bring them in line with controversial International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) regulations.
The call from the WMA, which claims to represent physicians from 114 member countries, follows the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling in favour of the IAAF in its landmark legal case against South African double Olympic champion Caster Semenya.
The CAS decision means Semenya and other affected athletes will have to take medication to reduce her testosterone if she wants to continue running on the world stage at events between 400 metres and a mile.
Semenya, a two-time Olympic and triple world champion over 800m, had been hoping to overcome the regulations, due to come into effect on Wednesday (May 8).
The 28-year-old’s legal team had argued the testosterone in her body was naturally occurring and so to ban her would be unfair.
WMA President Leonid Eidelman warned the organisation had “strong reservations about the ethical validity” of the IAAF rules, which could have a considerable impact on sport and International Federations.
Eidelman criticised the IAAF, claiming its regulations were based on “weak evidence from a single study, which is being widely debated by the scientific community” and said they should be immediately removed.
“They are also contrary to a number of key WMA ethical statements and declarations, and as such we are calling for their immediate withdrawal,” Eidelman said.
The WMA had previously expressed its opposition to medically prescribing treatment to lower testosterone if the condition was not recognised as pathological.
In its verdict, which followed months of deliberation in a highly contentious case, the CAS admitted the rules were “discriminatory” but also said the policy was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate”” to protect the fairness of women’s sport.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe welcomed CAS’s decision when speaking at a press conference prior before today’s Diamond League meeting in Doha, where Semenya will run in the women’s 800m event.
Coe, who declined to answer a question about why other genetic advantages are not regulated, said there would be no delay in implementing the new regulations.
The rules mean female athletes with naturally high levels of testosterone who wish to participate in events from 400m to a mile must medically limit that level to under 5 nmol/L, double the normal female range of below 2 nmol/L.
Athletes who want to at the 2019 IAAF World Championships, due to take place in Qatar’s capital Doha from September 27 to October 6, will have to start taking medication within one week.
Those affected by the rules must undergo a blood sampling by that date to measure their serum testosterone level and test their eligibility.
Semenya has remained defiant despite the verdict, insisting she would “once again rise above and continue to inspire young women and athletes in South Africa and around the world”.
A tweet she posted yesterday seemed to suggest she may imminently retire from the sport.
The decision from the CAS panel has sparked extensive debate, with some claiming it was the correct one to preserve the fairness of women’s sport.
But others, including Athletics South Africa, the South African Government and lawyers, have denounced the verdict.
-insidethegames
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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