Lausanne: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, at the centre of a gender controversy, has been cleared to compete for the next two years after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) yesterday.
CAS decided that they would wait for more clarification from governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) about Chand’s hyperandrogenism before taking any further steps.
Chand, India’s under-18 100 metres champion, was diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, a condition which produces high testosterone levels and meant she fell foul of IAAF gender rules.
Chand, the daughter of weavers who was brought up in rural poverty, had her promising career turned upside down when she was barred from last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after showing elevated levels of testosterone. However, CAS has asked the IAAF to provide more scientific evidence about the quantitative relationship between enhanced testosterone levels and improved athletic performance in hyperandrogenic athletes.
During that time Chand, the first athlete to challenge the rules, will be able to compete.
“The CAS Panel in charge of the procedure has suspended the ‘IAAF Regulation Governing Eligibility of Females with Hyperandrogenism to Compete in Women’s Competition’ (the “Hyperandrogenism Regulations”) for a maximum period of two years,” read the CAS statement.
Because of the lack of evidence, “the CAS Panel was unable to conclude that hyperandrogenic female athletes may benefit from such a significant performance advantage that it is necessary to exclude them from competing in the female category.
“While the Hyperandrogenism Regulations are suspended, Ms Dutee Chand is permitted to compete in both national and international level athletics events.
“Should the IAAF not file any scientific evidence within the two-year period granted by the CAS Panel, the Hyperandrogenism Regulations will be declared void.”
The Hyerpandrogenism Regulations were introduced after the IAAF’s struggles with the case of South African runner Caster Semenya, the 2009 outdoor world 800 metres women’s world champion, who was banned but later reinstated following investigations into her gender.
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