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On my journeys to Bhubaneswar – the capital city of the state of Orissa, India – of the yesteryears, I had fathomed a remarkable change. The change wasn’t as much in the adversities that people living there faced, but it was in the way they dealt with them. I was deployed at a project in a nearby village, where we were supposed to teach the underprivileged children in a primary school. Some of them didn’t have a proper uniform to wear, but all of them, for sure, had pencils. This spoke in huge volumes about their tenacity despite having lives fraught with distress.
It was from one of these places that a young girl ran, not just away from the hardships that she’d seen, but she ran towards glory. Glory, the path to which could be treacherous and conniving, but the end result makes the journey worthwhile. Dutee Chand was born in Jajpur, Orissa, and her journey from Jaipur to the United States has stories hidden amidst sprints of success.
The seeds of sprinting were sown and noticed as early as 2009 when a 13-year old Dutee was spotted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach, Mr. N Ramesh, who enrolled her at the SAI centre in Patiala. She didn’t have to seek too far for inspiration, for her sister Saraswati Chand was a champion athlete herself.
On this date, we know Dutee as a 19-year old athlete from India, who has had remarkable success at such a ripe age. She is the first woman athlete from India to have made it to the final of an international running event when she reached the final of the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2013. She also broke a 14-year old national record in May 2014, in the 100m junior category, and clinched two gold medals at the Asian Junior Athletics Championship.
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games of 2014 could have sealed the deal for this Indian prodigy to set her eyes on the great halo – the 2016 Rio Olympics. But, the clear track and her focus on the finishing line weren’t the only things she had to worry about.
Dutee was removed off the Indian contingent that was supposed to participate in the Commonwealth Games on the arguments that she suffered from hyperandrogenism – an increased level of the hormone testosterone in her body found naturally in males, and, therefore, couldn’t compete as a female athlete. The basic argument was the fact that enhanced testosterone levels affect the abilities of a female athlete, and give them an unfair advantage.
As baffling as the arguments sounded to her, these were the rules set in place by the IAAF, and were also backed by the International Olympic Committee – both being the governing bodies for athletes.
Dreams were shattered, but more drastically, her dignity as a woman was taken away. Her surroundings did the rest as she was discriminated against by the people who questioned her existence as a woman.
"I know people started suspecting whether I was a woman or a man. My friends asked me what's wrong with my body. They started to avoid me. During training, where girls used to share rooms, I was kept separately,” writes Dutee.
Even the IAAF, the patron for nurturing and taking care of the athletes all over the world asked her the same question when it asked whether she was at all a ‘woman.’
This decision was widely criticized all over the world, with various people and organizations coming forward to support Dutee. The Australian Intersex Advocates condemned the decision and the IAAF were lashed for their massive interference with Dutee’s privacy and human rights.
Former India athlete, Santhi Soundarajan, openly came out to support Dutee. She said, “They have tested Dutee at the last minute, humiliated her and broken her heart, all sorts of things have been written about her. Now, if she re-enters the sports field, things will not be normal.”
“Even if she takes treatment, people will kill her with their suspicious gaze. The matter could have been dealt with discreetly.That things became public, is wrong. Would they have done it if it was their daughter? Who is responsible for her future now? The job and the money are secondary problems. Think about how much she would have suffered. She is not from a wealthy or powerful family; just another ordinary family.”
“Even if she gets help from the State association, can she stay in peace in her village? She will find it tough to get married. Dutee is not the problem, but the system is the problem, an athlete cannot fail their gender,” he added.
Dutee, though, was tenacious, unyielding, and never ready to accept defeat. She challenged the IAAF’s decision in the Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS), which is a global quasi-judicial body, established to settle sport-related disputes.
After 12 months, in July 2015, her challenge was upheld by the CAS, that further went on to question the viability of the hyperandrogenism regulation of the IAAF. It said that there was no concrete evidence found that correlates the excess levels of the male hormone in a female’s body to any sort of advantage during their performance.
It also gave a two-year ultimatum to the IAAF, to prove to the court the applicability of the above-stated law, failing which, the hyperandrogenism clause would be removed altogether. Dutee’s perseverance and determination had prevailed.
But the road ahead hasn’t become any easier for her, especially after the trauma, and the suspicion that this controversy has created about her. She’s yet to qualify for the Olympics and to qualify she needs to train with the best atmosphere available.
She is currently training at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Centre, in the United States, and has launched a donation campaign. The campaign is being supported by the Nurturing Excellence in Sports Trust (NEST) and Sportskeeda.
We are trying to raise money for her, in order to enable her to train with the best facilities available, and so far we have come just marginally close to the target.
Dutee is an epitome of perseverance and courage, and her will to succeed is what makes her special. It is an honour as Indians, to have her amidst us, and it is we who have to care for these prodigies who run for the nation’s pride.
Indian politician Omar Abdullah took to Twitter to spread the message to his followers.
And, so did actress Gul Panag.
You can contribute to the campaign as well and help Dutee in her dream to clinch a GOLD medal for India in the Olympics.
