Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya has won her last 800m race before the introduction of controversial rules limiting testosterone levels in female athletes which she had battled for years to stop.
The South African was running at the Diamond League meeting in Doha two days after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected her appeal to get the International Association of Athletics Federations' new regulations thrown out.
Semenya won her 30th successive race over the distance in 1m 54.98s - the eighth fastest time in history - beating her nearest opponent by nearly three seconds.
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Despite sending out some tweets which hinted at retiring, Semenya said she plans to keep running.
"How the hell am I going to retire when I'm 28? I still feel young, energetic," she was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
"I still have 10 years or more in athletics - it doesn't matter how I'm going to do it, what matters is I'll still be here."
"I'm never going anywhere. At the end of the day, it's all about believing.
"It's up to God. God has decided my career, and he will end my career, so no human can stop me from running."
The Olympian must now begin taking medication to lower her testosterone levels if she wishes to compete over that distance based on the new rules, which CAS said on Wednesday were necessary to ensure fair competition.
Under the rules to take effect on May 8, female athletes with high natural levels of testosterone wishing to compete in events from 400m to a mile must medically limit that level to under 5 nmol/L, which is double the normal female range of below 2 nmol/L.
Testosterone is a hormone that increases muscle mass, strength and haemoglobin - which affects endurance.
Reuters
