Life has given me second chance: Dutee

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 28

The curious case of Dutee Chand is a perfect example of how to remain optimistic in the face of adversities.

The sprinter was called names, labelled an outcast by society and even her own national federation deserted her. The endless barbs forced her into obscurity and made her think about committing suicide when her name was struck off from the contingent for last year’s Commonwealth Games after she showed elevated levels of testosterone.

She was hailed as the next sprint queen after legendary PT Usha until one dreadful July evening changed everything. She was banned from international competition for failing an alleged “gender test”. From being the toast of the nation to becoming an object of curiosity, Dutee was left alone to fight the most difficult battle of her life – proving her identity to the world.

Dutee decided to challenge the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) policy on ‘hyperandrogenism’ – a condition which produces high levels of testosterone in female athletes. She became the first athlete to challenge the gender rules.

Last year in October, she took her fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Luasanne, Switzerland, while continuing her training in Hyderabad for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a slim hope of getting a reprieve from CAS.

After fighting IAAF’s policy for nearly 10 months, Dutee is back on the track with her head held high. CAS suspended the hyperandrogenism regulations of the world athletics body for two years while granting Dutee permission to compete in both national and international events.

The CAS ruling said that there was no clear evidence that she might have benefited from her condition.

“Life has given me a second chance. It’s like a re-birth. The cloud of uncertainty has disappeared and I can now concentrate on qualifying for the Rio Olympics and hopefully winning a medal there. It’s been a painful few months where I had to prove to my country that I was a girl and not a boy,” Dutee told The Tribune.

“I never lost hope during the case. I always remained positive. It was not my fault if I was born this way. It was unfair to ban me as I was just like any other athlete,” Dutee, the daughter of weaver parents from Jajpur district of Odisha, added.

It was a painful journey for Dutee, but then the help from unexpected quarters – the Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) – actually enabled Dutee to borne the entire legal cost of her fight.

Dutee said that after the verdict she felt as though God had chosen her from all the athletes facing similar gender issues to abolish the IAAF’s policy.

“Why not Caster Semenya, Santhi Soundarajan or Pinki Pramanik? Why Dutee Chand? Semenya fought her case with the South African athletics federation and was later reinstated following investigations into her gender. Santhi and Pinki did not even get that much chance from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). I believe God chose me for a purpose to challenge the hyperandrogenism policy and abolish it. I feel relieved that no other athlete with a similar disorder will suffer in the future,” she said.

Dutee said she shivered with fear when told that she must undergo surgery or take hormonal treatment to revive her career. “It was the worst phase of my life. I can’t imagine that such things were suggested to me.”

Dr. Payoshni Mitra, a research consultant on gender issues, who was nominated by SAI to advise Dutee, said the verdict upheld the notion of gender equality in sports.

“I feel the verdict will pave the way for a more inclusive, fairer sporting culture,” Mitra said.

Dutee wants to be included in TOPS

• Dutee Chand has requested the Sports Ministry to include her name in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), under which the 2016 Rio Games medal prospects will be funded for their specialised training and competitions. “I urgently need the TOPS funding to get to my personal best. If I'll train here in India, it will take me eight-nine months to return to my timings, but if the Ministry sends me to a foreign location for a competition-cum-training programme, my performance can improve before the Olympic qualifiers next year,” Dutee said. Dutee's current timings of 11.79s in 100 metres and 24.01s in 200 metres is way below her personal best of 11.63s and 23.56s, respectively, in the two race categories. However, according to a senior Sports Ministry official, Dutee's name is unlikely to be added in the list in the near future as her performance has dropped drastically over the past few months while she was busy fighting her case in the CAS.