Dutee Chand scoops second silver, says fearful over future

The Indian athlete won a court battle for her right to compete with her hormonal imbalance, and has achieved silvers in Jakarta in both the 100m and 200m.

Dutee Chand rests after crossing the finish line to win the Silver medal in the women's 200m final event at the 2018 Asian Games.

India's Dutee Chand scooped her second silver of the Asian Games on Wednesday, four years after she was dropped from the team due to her high testosterone levels, but said she lives in fear she could be made to “suffer” again.

Chand has hyperandrogenism, the condition that also affects South African middle distance star and Olympic champion Caster Semenya.

The Indian athlete won a court battle for her right to compete with her hormonal imbalance, and has achieved silvers in Jakarta in both the 100m and 200m — only the second Indian woman ever to do so, after sprint queen PT Usha.

“God has given me a lot of trouble since 2014. I suffered a lot. Nobody could have suffered so much. But I came back to give two medals to India. It will be a big celebration back home,” said Chand.

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Chand was dropped from the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2014 after hormone testing.

Hyperandrogenism, the medical condition which causes women to produce high levels of male sex hormones, is controversial because it pits principles of fair competition against the rights of women born with the condition.

New rules say women racing between 400m and one mile can only compete if they take medication to reduce their testosterone levels — but short-distance sprinters like Chand were spared.

“My legal team helped me to come back. But nobody could guarantee what will happen in the future. Caster Semenya is still fighting. There is always fear but you need to overcome it,” said Chand.