A teenage Indian sprinter who was banned from international
competition for failing a "gender test" is hoping her fight against
rules on sexual identity will spare others the same fate.
Dutee Chand, 18, said she has suffered trauma and embarrassment, but
her challenge in the Court of Arbitration for Sport could change
controversial rules set by athletics' world governing body.
Chand, the daughter of weavers who was brought up in rural poverty,
had her promising career turned upside down when she was barred from
this year's Commonwealth Games after showing elevated levels of
testosterone.
"I was devastated," India's under-18 100 metres champion told AFP. "I
didn't know what I had done wrong. I had not taken any drugs, I had
made no mistake so why was I being singled out?"
Chand was diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, a condition which produces
high testosterone levels and meant she fell foul of the International
Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) gender rules.
They were introduced after the IAAF's struggles with the case of
South African runner Caster Semenya, who was banned but later reinstated
following investigations into her gender.
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