Semenya’s brave battles saluted

South Africa’s most accomplished track athlete has been sidelined for good, with World Athletics hammering the final nail in the coffin of her career this week, but Caster Semenya will always be remembered for the brave battles she fought, both on and off the track.

A three-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist in the 800m event, Semenya has achieved more than any other SA track and field athlete – but it was in court rooms where she took on her strongest opposition.

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When controversial gender rules were first overturned, then reinstated, she took the fight to World Athletics. She lost all her appeals in court, but Semenya refused to be pushed around, insisting she would not take hormone suppressants and switching to the 5 000m event in order to sidestep the rules.

World Athletics announced this week, however, that its ban on athletes with “differences of sexual development” would extend to all track and field disciplines, effectively ending her career.

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So we won’t see her running again after 1 April and being past her prime at the age of 32, she probably won’t see any point in taking the battle back to court.

But Semenya will go down in history as a champion who never backed down from a fight.