IAAF President Sebastian Coe insisted the IAAF is "right to go to the courts" to ensure that South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya and other athletes with hyperandrogenism are "not allowed to compete unless they take action to suppress naturally high testosterone levels," according to Sean Ingle of the London GUARDIAN. Semenya won 800m gold on Sunday night, with rivals Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui also "subject to the kind of innuendo" that Semenya experienced in '09. Coe confirmed on Saturday the IAAF will go back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in "September or October" to continue the arguments over the case of Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, who accused the organization of "discriminating against her by setting an upper limit for the testosterone levels of female competitors." That led to CAS changing the rules -- "while giving the IAAF two years to prove its case." Coe said, "This is an incredibly sensitive subject. We are all fathers and brothers. I don’t want athletes being demonized but it is the responsibility of the federation to create a level playing field in female sport. We don’t want to turn this into a witch hunt. Nobody is choosing to cheat here. This is not an anti-doping issue -- it is a biological one." Coe also confirmed that he would "like to see the Russian team return" in time for the world championships in Doha in '19. He said, "I would, because it will mean that we are satisfied their athletes have come from a clean environment" (GUARDIAN, 8/12).
'NOT WORRYING': REUTERS' Isaack Omulo reported athletics execs in Ethiopia "are not worried about doping problems in the sport and are dealing with them strongly," a senior official said. The east African nation and Kenya have been "rocked by a number of positive doping tests in recent years" and both countries were placed in "critical care" by the athletics authorities over their drug-testing systems. Ethiopian Athletics Federation Secretary General Bililign Mekoya said, "It (doping) is not worrying us. The few cases that emerged were dealt with squarely and decisively and we have launched a major education program among young athletes because we know knowledge is power" (REUTERS, 8/12).
