Female Sprinter Dutee Chand wins right to compete in a historic judgement

Apex sports court suspends IAAF hyperandrogenism rules for two years

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The case of the nineteen year old Indian sprinter, Dutee Chand, has led the highest court in sports to spell out a landmark judgement regarding gender rules in athletics.

On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), based in Lausanne, Switzerland has cleared Chand for competing in national and international sporting events for a period of two years, by declaring void the International Association of Athletics Federations' rules which debar athletes with hyperandrogenism — deemed excessive but naturally occurring testosterone — from competing in the female category.

On July 18 last year, the Indian Express reported, Chand, a sprinter in the 18-and-under category, the Athletics Federation of India had removed Dutee’s name from the team for the Commonwealth Games after she was tested for hyperandrogenism. Her body produces natural levels of testosterone so high that they place her in the male range in the eyes of international track and field. According to the New York Times, following the IAAF’s rule the AFI had decided to let Chand compete only if she lowered her testosterone level beneath the male range, either by taking hormone-suppressing drugs or having surgery to limit how much testosterone her body produces.

Dutee, however, instead of opting for prescribed drugs or surgery, went on to challenge challenge the IAAF regulations.
CAS has also asked the IAAF to collect proper scientific evidence in these two years, if they wanted to prove a link between enhanced performance and testosterone in hyperandrogenic athletes.

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued an Interim Award in the arbitration procedure between the Indian athlete Dutee Chand, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF),” the CAS said, according to the Express report.

The CAS interim award means Dutee can now aim to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The IAAF guidelines require females to have testosterone of less than 10 nanomoles per litre.

The impact of the verdict is not exclusive to Dutee but will now allow similar athletes, who have been diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, to compete in the World Championships in August and the Olympic Games next year.