Don’t be pressurised into undergoing medication, Dutee Chand warns Indian athletes about IAAF’s rule

The latest IAAF rules put a cap on naturally-occurring testosterone. The 22-year-old athlete advised other female athletes of India not to be pressurised into undergoing medication or be subjected to tests in order to adhere to the fresh rules. Hyperandrogenism is a medical condition that produces higher-than-normal testosterone in females and the rule puts a condition to this for female athletes participating in events more than 400m.

“It is important that female athletes in India in these five events know their rights with respect to the new (IAAF) policy. If they are approached for testing, they have the right to ask the authorities for the reasons for the test in writing and to ask that an independent ombudsman is appointed to determine whether the alleged reasons for the test are justified, before submitting to any test,” Dutee told The Indian Express.

The new rules laid out suggest that the only way to get an entry into the disciplines is by lowering the level of testosterone by medication and the new rules will come into effect from November 1 this year.

The Odisha athlete was asked to undergo tests after the Athletics Federation of India (AAI) wrote to the Sports Authority of India to check if she was flouting IAAF’s hyperandrogenism guidelines in 2014. Dutee was suspended in 2014 and missed the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Incheon in the same year. She then successfully challenged the IAAF rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In the new rules for female eligibility of IAAF, Dutee’s events 100m and 200m race have been exempted.

Dutee also supported South African athlete Caster Semenya by saying, “The new policy is a modified version of the policy, which I successfully appealed at the CAS in 2014-15. At that time, CAS ruled that the IAAF had not provided sufficient scientific evidence to justify such a policy and the policy has been withdrawn. The remarkable South African runner, Caster Semenya, twice Olympic and three-time world champion, has challenged the new policy and I am confident she will be successful in overturning it at CAS. Just as I did, she is appealing this unjust rule on behalf of all female athletes.”

“I remember I was completely shaken and clueless until the Sports Authority of India appointed Dr Payoshni Mitra, an independent advisor-cum-mediator, for me. Her help and network were crucial in my fight. I missed the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon because of the ban. But I did not give up. I fought on and off the track to win silver at the 2018 Asian Games. I wish no other athlete would ever have to suffer the humiliation I had to endure,” Dutee recollected while speaking about the tough times she had to face in 2014 after facing the suspension.