Dutee hits out at new IAAF rules

New Delhi, April 27: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand said track and field’s new rules on women’s testosterone levels were “wrong” and offered legal help to Olympic champion Caster Semenya to help her fight back.

Chand, who won a court battle for her right to compete with a hormonal imbalance, said she was relieved to have avoided falling under the regulations, which only cover distances between 400m and one mile.

But she criticised this week’s International Association of Athletics Federations ruling, which has been interpreted as targeting South Africa’s Semenya, a middle- distance specialist.

“I am happy and relieved after four years of uncertainty but I feel for athletes like Semenya. I strongly believe the current rules are also wrong,” Chand said.

“I have offered Semenya my legal team if she needs. I have emailed her offering my support and help,” she added.

South Africa’s Semenya has long attracted debate because of her powerful physique related to hyperandrogenism, the medical condition which causes women to produce high levels of male sex hormones.

The issue of hyperandrogenism is controversial because it pits principles of fair competition against the rights of women born with the condition.

The new rules say that women with high levels of naturally occurring testosterone can only compete if they take medication to reduce them.

The ruling covers events from 400m to the mile because the IAAF’s medical and science department says it has data showing an advantage for hyperandrogenous athletes over such distances.

But South Africa’s ruling African National Congress ( ANC) has blasted the new regulations and termed it unjust and racist and at the same time have also urged the Pretoria government to challenge them in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. — AFP