She Was Humiliated, Barred From CWG And Branded 'A Man'. Here's How Indian Sprinter Bounced Back!

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand feels her life is back on track after being cleared to race following the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) ruling on gender testing guidelines. The Lausanne-based court in July suspended the governing International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) regulations regarding hyperandrogenism, a condition which produces high testosterone levels, for two years.

BCCL

The recent ruling cleared the way for the 19-year-old to compete again in both domestic and international events after she was forced to sit out for about a year. "When I heard that CAS had allowed me to participate again in international meets, I felt like I got my life back," Dutee, the under-18 national champion over 100 metres, told the Indian Express newspaper. "Over the past year I was facing an uncertain future. Running is all I know and it is what I love the most. Till the verdict was pronounced I did not know what the future held in store. This is the happiest day of my life."

The daughter of a weaver couple from the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Dutee was dropped from India's contingent for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Incheon after her naturally-occurring testosterone levels were found in breach of the IAAF's guidelines. She was advised to have surgery and get medication but instead decided to challenge the guidelines at CAS, who asked the IAAF to present scientific evidence proving enhanced testosterone levels improved performance in hyperandrogenic athletes.

NYTimes

"In the absence of such 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," CAS said in a statement. "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."

Dutee said her training had been severely hampered due to the situation but had set qualification for next year's Rio Olympics as her target. The IAAF defended its regulations, saying they were framed after lengthy consultations with experts in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

BCCL

"The IAAF will now meet as soon as possible with its experts, and with the IOC and its experts, to discuss how best to address this interim ruling by the CAS," the body said in a statement. "The IAAF will make no further comments on this subject until those discussions are concluded."

Other athletes scarred by strange gender laws

Santhi Soundarajan: Was stripped of a silver medal won at the 2006 Asiad after failing a gender verification test.

Pinki Pramanik: Had success with the national 4x400m relay team. In 2012, a rape allegation by Pramanik's female friend led to medical tests to determine her gender. After a long-drawn legal and medical battle, she was declared to be a female.

Caster Semanya: SA middle-distance runner and world champion. Following her victory at the 2009 Worlds, it was announced that she had been subjected to gender testing. IAAF later cleared her to return to competition.

The 101 India Transgender Project created by 101India.com powered by Indiatimes is an attempt to to hammer in the idea of transgenders as 'real people', not objects of hostility. A project which for the first times gives the opportunity to the Transgender community to be photographed in roles and jobs that they'd like only if society let them.