Caster Semenya is a double Olympic champion, and she’s a three-time world 800m champion for South Africa. But her stellar running career has been overshadowed by a fight over whether or not she should be allowed to compete.

Semenya has hyperandrogenism – a medical condition characterised by excessive levels of testosterone and other male sex hormones. In order to compete at distances from 400m to a mile, Semenya would have to abide by an International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) rule that she reduce her testosterone levels by using hormone suppressing drugs.

The athlete had appealed against the ruling twice, first to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS), which overturned the IAAF’s rule for a period of two years until April 2018. A further appeal was made to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which on 31 July dealt Semenya a blow by deciding to uphold the IAAF’s rules. As a result, Semenya has said she will not defend her 800m title in the upcoming World Athletics Championships this September.

Caster Semenya faces another obstacle in her fight for the rights of women athletes