Olympic champ Semenya did not get a fair hearing in sex eligibility case, human rights court rules

GENEVA (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya won a partial victory at the European Court of Human Rights on Thursday in her seven-year legal fight against track and field’s sex eligibility rules.

The court’s 17-judge highest chamber said in a 15-2 vote that Semenya had some of her rights to a fair hearing violated at Switzerland’s Supreme Court, where she had appealed against a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in favor of track's World Athletics.

However, the court declined to rule on several other aspects of Semenya’s case, including on the question of whether she was discriminated against in Swiss courts. The European court in Strasbourg, France, said those issues were outside Switzerland's jurisdiction, although four of the 17 judges gave a partial dissent to the majority view.

Semenya's case should now go back to the Swiss federal court in Lausanne. It will be watched closely by other sports which have passed or are reviewing their own rules on eligibility in women's events.

Semenya later posted on social media a photo of herself in the court chamber with a message a three raised fists symbolizing her fight for justice.

“Today, my patience in this journey has been rewarded with a result that will pave the way for all athletes’ human rights to be protected,” she said in a statement.

The original case between Semenya and track’s governing body based in Monaco was about whether athletes like her — who have specific medical conditions, a typical male chromosome pattern and naturally high testosterone levels — should be allowed to compete freely in women’s sports.

The European court’s ruling does not overturn the World Athletics rules that effectively ended Semenya’s career running the 800 meters after she won two Olympic and three world titles since emerging on the global stage as a teenager in 2009.

The judges also did not take up other aspects of the appeal filed by Semenya, who was in court to hear their judgment read. It awarded her 80,000 euros ($94,000) from the state of Switzerland “in respect of costs and expenses.”

The key legal point in Semenya's win was that the Swiss Federal Court had not carried out a “rigorous judicial review.” This was required because Semenya had no choice but to pursue her case through the CAS's “mandatory and exclusive jurisdiction.” the Strasbourg judges ruled.

Governing bodies of sports oblige athletes and national federations to take their disputes to the sports court in the International Olympic Committee's home city Lausanne.

“The court considered, however, that the Federal Supreme Court’s review had fallen short of that requirement,” it said in a statement.

In dismissing other elements of the South African runner’s case, including if she had been discriminated against, the court judged it “did not fall within Switzerland’s jurisdiction in respect of those complaints.”

World Athletics, led by its president Sebastian Coe, has said its rules maintain fairness because Semenya has an unfair, male-like athletic advantage from her higher testosterone. Semenya argues her testosterone is a genetic gift.

World Athletics and CAS did not immediately respond to the ruling. The IOC declined to comment on a case it is not directly involved in.

Thursday's win followed a legal victory from the same court two years ago for Semenya.

That judgment which said she had faced discrimination opened a way for the Swiss supreme court to reconsider its decision to dismiss her appeal against the CAS verdict in favor of World Athletics.

At CAS in 2019, three judges ruled 2-1 that discrimination against Semenya was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to maintain fairness in women’s track events.

World Athletics drew up its rules in 2018 forcing Semenya and other female athletes with Differences in Sex Development to suppress their testosterone to be eligible for international women’s events.

Four of the 17 judges filed a partial dissent to the majority opinion, arguing their court should have been able to pronounce on “substantive conclusions” reached by the CAS that went against Semenya.

World Athletics eligibility rules “specifically targeted the applicant, since they concerned only the events in which she competed — indeed, the fact that they amounted to a kind of ‘lex Semenya’ clearly demonstrates the arbitrariness of those regulations as a whole,” the four judges wrote.

“We are disappointed that her expectations have not been met,” said the dissenting judges, who included the chamber president, Marko Bošnjak from Slovenia.

Semenya refused to take medication to lower her natural testosterone levels and so last competed internationally in the 800 in 2019, winning at the Prefontaine Classic meeting on the Diamond League circuit in Eugene, Oregon. It extended her winning streak to more than 30 consecutive races when the rules made her ineligible.

Her winning time then of 1 minute, 55.70 seconds was faster than the gold medal-winning time at the 2024 Paris Olympics but not the 1:55.21 run by Athing Mu of the United States at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

Semenya returned to Eugene in 2022 to race in the world championships over 5,000 but did not advance from the heats.

She is now 34 and has moved into coaching. She said recently her ongoing legal fight is about a principle rather than her own running career.

“I have given up what I wanted in the hope that others may have what they need,” Semenya said Thursday. "I hope this victory will inspire young women to be and to accept themselves in all their diversity.”

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa

AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports

South Africa's Caster Semenya, center, answers reporters with lawyer Gregory Nott, left, after Semenya won a partial victory at the European Court of Human Rights on in her seven-year legal fight against track and field's sex eligibility rules, Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

FILE -South Africa's Caster Semenya celebrates after winning the gold medal in the final of the Women's 800m during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Aug. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

South Africa's Caster Semenya, center, answers reporters with lawyers Gregory Nott, left, and Shona Jolly KC after Semenya won a partial victory at the European Court of Human Rights on in her seven-year legal fight against track and field's sex eligibility rules, Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

South Africa's Caster Semenya sits in the European Court of Human Rights before its decision over sex eligibility rules in sports, Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

South Africa's Caster Semenya speaks to lawyer Gregory Nott, right, in the European Court of Human Rights before a decision over sex eligibility rules in sports, Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

South Africa's Caster Semenya leaves in the European Court of Human Rights Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.

The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”

Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”

The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.

Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.

Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.

The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.

“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”

For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.

In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.

At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.

The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)