Female Sprinter Challenges International Athletics Regulations

TORONTO, Oct. 7, 2014 /CNW/ - Eighteen-year-old Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ("CAS"), challenging International Association of Athletics Federations ("IAAF") regulations that have led to her indefinite suspension from competition.

Chand, India's 100-metre women's national sprint champion (www.letduteerun.org), has been banned since July 2014 just prior to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow when she was advised that her natural testosterone levels give her an unfair advantage.

The appeal challenges the controversial IAAF Regulations Governing Eligibility of Females with Hyperandrogenism, which target female athletes with naturally elevated testosterone levels who, in the words of the IAAF, "display masculine traits and have an uncommon athletic capacity in relation to their fellow female competitors."

The Regulations have previously been questioned from a scientific, ethical, and medical perspective. The Regulations require athletes like Chand who wish to remain eligible for competition to undergo interventions consisting of drugs or surgery that have potentially serious side effects and health risks. 

It is expected that the IAAF and Indian Athletic Federation will welcome an independent review of these controversial Regulations by the CAS.

As the first athlete to pursue a legal challenge of the Regulations before CAS, Chand has drawn international attention, including a petition in support of her cause: https://www.change.org/p/let-dutee-run-don-t-ban-women-athletes-for-high-natural-testosterone.

Chand is supported by her legal advisor, Jim Bunting of Davies Ward Philips & Vineberg in Toronto; Professor Bruce Kidd, Professor of Kinesiology, University of Toronto; Dr. Katrina Karkazis, Bioethicist, Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University; and Dr. Payoshni Mitra, Chand's advisor and an expert in issues related to gender and sport in India.  The Sports Authority of India also supports Chand's appeal to CAS.

SOURCE: MidtownPR

Bill Walker, [email protected]; 416-624-3936