Champion runner Caster Semenya ending legal fight against sex eligibility rules, lawyer says

Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya is ending a seven-year legal challenge against sex eligibility rules in track and field, her lawyers said.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya is ending a seven-year legal challenge against sex eligibility rules in track and field, her lawyers said Thursday, despite winning a ruling at the European Court of Human Rights in July that appeared to have reignited one of sports' most contentious cases.

Patrick Bracher, a lawyer for Semenya, said in an email to The Associated Press that they wouldn't take her appeal back to the Swiss supreme court, which was an option and what many presumed to be Semenya's next step after the European rights court ruling.

"Caster's legal challenge reached the highest possible court with a highly successful outcome and will not be taken further in the circumstances," Bracher wrote.

Semenya is a two-time Olympic gold medallist in the 800 meters from South Africa who has been banned from running in her favorite race at major international meets like the Olympics and world championships since 2019 because she refused to follow the rules and take medication to artificially reduce her hormone levels.

Since 2018, she has taken her legal battle against the rules enforced by track governing body World Athletics to three courts; the Switzerland-based highest court for sports, the Swiss Federal Tribunal and the European Court of Human Rights.