Two-time Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya has ruled out an ambassadorial or leadership role within South African athletics, saying she “will not work with snakes”.

Semenya was assigned female at birth but was born with differences of sexual development (DSD), meaning she has higher than usual levels of testosterone for a woman. A three-time world 800m champion, she has spent much of her career - since winning her first world title as a teenager in 2009 - engaged in a battle with World Athletics and sport’s highest court over her eligibility to compete in the elite female category.

Rules introduced by the sport’s governing body in 2018 meant the South African could not compete without taking medication to reduce her testosterone levels, which she refused to do, and she lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), arguing the ruling was discriminatory, the following year.

Subsequent appeals have also gone against her, although the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in her favour after she brought a case against the Swiss government, which was deemed to have failed to protect her rights, in 2023.

The 35-year-old has now ruled herself out of running for election for the Athletics South Africa (ASA) board, saying the federation failed her, and similarly dismissed the idea of ambassadorial role for the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), which is bidding to host the 2036 or 2040 Olympic Games.

Semenya told South African outlet SABC Sport: “I have been betrayed so many times by the very same people. I don't see myself sitting at a table with an enemy. I am going to be honest; I am speaking just for myself. I have no interest in any position or any organization at this moment.

“I am not really interested in an organization because they use you as bait, so I don't want to be in a space where I need to answer to someone.”

Barring a brief spell running over 5,000m Semenya has since stopped competing and turned to coaching, as well as setting up the Caster Semenya Foundation, which encourages children and communities from impoverished areas to get into sport.

She added: “I want to fix my own ship, which is Masai Athletics Club, the Caster Semenya Foundation, which is my priority, and my athletes.

“So when it comes to national and international leadership, at the moment I will pause it because I don't see myself working with snakes.”