Dutee Chand is likely to compete at Gold Coast CWG in April. (Source: Express Archive Photo)
Dutee Chand is in Bhubaneshwar on a mini-break as a fractured wrist had necessitated time away from the track. A misstep during a training session which comprised hurdling, resulted in an awkward landing. The doctor had said she would be pain-free in a fortnight by when she could return to the track to continue her bid to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. The broken bone was a minor impediment as Chand prepped to qualify for Gold Coast 2018. She admits to having nightmarish thoughts of not being allowed to compete if the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) ruled against participation of female athletes with high levels of testosterone.
By Friday afternoon, Chand heaved a sigh of relief as the CAS extended the suspension of the International Association of Athletics Federations’ rules on hyperandrogenism by another six months.
The hyperandrogenism rules — which bar female athletes with high levels of naturally-occurring testosterone from competing — had been set aside since Chand had successfully challenged it in 2015. When issuing the interim order CAS had directed the IAAF to produce scientific evidence which proved that hyperandrogenism gave female athletes an unfair advantage.
In September, the IAAF had tabled fresh evidence in an effort to prove that such female athletes had an advantage when they participated in events like 400 metres, 400 metre hurdles, 800 metres, hammer throw and pole-vault. Chand had knocked on the doors of the CAS in October and had appealed that as she competes only in the sprint events – 100m and 200m – she was not directly affected by the findings.
On Friday, the CAS said that the proceedings of the case were suspended for six months while also extending the suspension of hyperandrogenism rules. “I cannot control what the lawyers and officials will do but I am pleased to hear that going forward the regulations may not apply to the sprints,” Chand said.
The CAS in a statement on Friday said that in September the IAAF had produced ‘expert reports’ and legal submissions’. “That material includes draft revised regulations that would only apply to female track events over distances of between 400 metres and one mile.”
The statement added: “The CAS has now issued an order by consent of the parties by which this proceeding is suspended for a period of six months, during which the IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations remain suspended.
During this period, the IAAF is to advise the CAS as to how it intends to implement its regulations moving forward. If the IAAF decides not to withdraw its current Hyperandrogenism Regulations, then these proceedings will resume before the same Panel of arbitrators. If the IAAF withdraws the Hyperandrogenism Regulations and/or replaces them with the proposed draft regulations it has submitted, then these proceedings will be terminated.”
Chand, meanwhile, is looking forward to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. “I am happy that I can compete at the Commonwealth Games. I have to qualify first. But the CAS statement today has given me some peace of mind,” Chand said from Bhubaneshwar.
This is not the first time Chand has had to deal with the uncertainty over her future, rather it has been a running theme ever since she was dropped from the Indian squad for the Commonwealth Games in 2014.