IAAF adopts eligibility rules for hormone cases for athletes

DAEGU, South Korea // The IAAF has become the first international sports federation to approve new rules on the eligibility of female athletes with excessive levels of male hormones.

The IAAF adopted regulations to deal with cases of women with "hyperandrogenism" - a condition involving overproduction of male sex hormones.

The decision by the IAAF council followed a decision last week by the International Olympic Committee to propose the rules for all sports federations.

The IAAF said the rules go into effect on May 1 and comes more than 18 months after Caster Semenya, a South African athlete, won the women's 800m title at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Tests later revealed that she had excessive hormonal imbalance derived from male physical characteristics and the controversy cast a shadow on her achievement.

Now the IAAF has appointed a pool of international medical experts to review any hyperandrogenism cases and make recommendations to the IAAF on the eligibility of the athletes.