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Dutee Chand is an Indian sprinter who has climbed from nothing onto the world's elite track and field stage. While she earned a spot in the Commonwealth Games, the powers that be disqualified her because her testosterone level is naturally "too high" for their liking.
Chand is the latest female athlete to be punished for simply being who she is and trying to be the best athlete she can be. Caster Semenya was famously ridiculed and temporarily barred from competition for the same reasons.
Thankfully there is a Change.org petition you can sign to ask that she be reinstated by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF - the world's governing track & field body). Kate Fagan from ESPN has also weighed in with a strong piece.
More on Chand, from the Change.org petition:
Dutee Chand was born in a small village in India to a family of weavers. With only modest means, she trained long and hard in order to run competitively on the international stage.
In July, her dreams were crushed when she learned from newspaper reports that she was not allowed to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. On August 29, 2014, she was officially barred from all national and international sporting events.
Why? According to sports officials, her body makes too much testosterone (she has not doped).
Dutee's career is in jeopardy because of the IAAF's hyperandrogenism policy. We oppose Dutee's disqualification and the policy on which it was based. The policy is unscientific, unethical, and unfair. It can also lead to long-term emotional and physical harm for women athletes.
Please sign the petition and help Chand compete!
