The Court's rejection of Caster Semenya's appeal is a massive blow to her fight against the IAAF's new rules on the acceptable amount of testosterone in female athletes. And while the 800 meter Olympic gold medalist will compete in Qatar this weekend, her future is very much in the balance. CGTN's Sias du Plessis has the reaction from Johannesburg.

The decision has caught many by surprise and drawn widespread criticism from all over the world, and despite CAS admitting the new regulations were discriminatory and according to many athletics scribes, it appears as if the basis for the panel's verdict was not entirely based on the IAAF's research.

OCKERT DE VILLIERS ATHLETICS JOURNALIST "By its very nature, sport will discriminate against someone or a certain group, I guess their (CAS) issue was do we discriminate the majority of women, or do we discriminate against a tiny minority, and I guess that was probably the crux of their whole case, yes, the reality is someone is not gonna be happy with this."

The 28-year-old must now take medication to reduce her testosterone levels by half if she wishes to continue running her marquee events – the 800 meters and 1500 meters. Should Semenya choose to, the side effects could well hamper her performance, and prevent her from emulating the performances that saw claim the World and Olympic title.

DR. ELNA RUDOLPH SEXOLOGIST "It depends on how much she needs to get it lower, so she might feel awfully bloated, and for an athlete to feel bloated, she might feel lethargic and tired, and she can't afford that. Just from the side effects from the medicine, apart from this massive reduction in her testosterone, that will make her feel much less driven and energetic."

Speculation continues to do the rounds as to what the world and double Olympic champion can achieve in the longer distances not affected by the controversial new regulations that take effect on May 8th.

HEZEKIEL SEPENG 1996 OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST • 800 METERS "As middle distance, you will need a good endurance, you will need speed. I think she is doing it just perfect, I don't think she will go for the 5000m in future, but she looked very very good. If I am given an opportunity to advise her I would say hey go for 5000 also."

Semenya has now explored the 5000m and proved to be successful at the new distance, but now the naturally gifted athlete may have to accept her fate and make a difficult call on her athletics career, or make a stand for what she and other athletes affected by the regulations believe in.

OCKERT DE VILLIERS TRACK & FIELD REPORTER "Knowing Caster, she is a defiant individual. I do believe the fight wasn't just about her. She has always been the kind of fighter that goes okay, she is like the David and IAAF the Goliath, so whatever form it may take, she will be fighting for something."

SIAS DU PLESSIS JOHANNESBURG "Caster Semenya appears to be preparing for a fight. Along with the backing of Athletics South Africa, and the South African government, she looks set to take on the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision. Her decade-long fight with the IAAF appears to have no end as she aims to do what she believes is her right and that's run the way she was born. Sias du Plessis, CGTN, Johannesburg."