Danielle Brown’s hopes of winning a third Paralympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 have been dashed.

The Lothersdale archer, who won the women’s compound events in Beijing in 2008 and London last year, has been stymied by a change in the sport’s classification rules.

In a statement, World Archery said: “The Paralympic Games and World Archery Para Championships should not be for anyone who has a physical disability but for those athletes with a disability where the disability has a direct and important impact on the archery performance.”

The 25-year-old shoots while seated on a stool due to reflex sympathetic dystrophy – a condition that causes chronic pain in her feet.

She has received the full support of British Archery in the light of the world governing body’s decision, and it has been confirmed that Brown can keep her medals.

They also released a statement, which said: “Different forms of disability can affect people differently, therefore archers need to undergo a set of specific tests, the outcomes of which then decide which class they can compete in.

“The most recent re-classification took place at the World Para Championships in Bangkok, and Danielle Brown has been affected.”

Sara Symington, performance Director at Archery GB, said: “We are extremely saddened to say that Danielle Brown has not been classified under the new criteria, which means she is no longer able to compete at Paralympic archery events on behalf of Great Britain.

“We are so proud of all she has achieved as a Paralympic archer and we wish her all the best for the future.

“We will be offering Danielle our full support over the coming weeks and months.”

The statement continued: “World Archery has confirmed they are in full agreement with the International Paralympic Committee and they have confirmed this means that a number of athletes, some of whom may have won medals at the London Paralympics or the last World Para-Archery Championships in Turin, will no longer be eligible to compete internationally in Para-Archery competitions.

“World Archery has publicly stated that at no time should any of these athletes be challenged in a negative way. They obeyed the rules and won their medals fairly as a result of hard work over many years.

“World Archery is proud of what they have done. It is simply a fact that the classification rules for Para-Archery have changed.”

Only last week, Brown, who is an MBE, won two silver medals at the Para-Archery World Championships in Thailand, narrowly failing to claim her fourth successive individual world title.

She was edged out for gold in the women’s compound final by Turkey’s Burcu Dag, who triumphed via a one-arrow shoot-out.

After tieing 136-136, both archers shot a nine but Burcu’s arrow was closer to the centre.

The following day, Brown, who was made a Freewoman of the Craven dsitrict in September, paired with double Para world champion John Stubbs to take silver in the mixed team compound. Turkey were again their betters, winning 145-142.

Brown, who is currently digesting her bad news from World Archery, has also competed for GBi n able-bodied competition and won compound team gold for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.