Dutee Chand’s life has not always been smooth sailing. With low points including failing drug tests and the highs of becoming India’s top sprinter and winning silver medals at the Asian Games. Another startling discovery about Dutee has been now revealed. In November 2021, Dutee was told she had level 1 cancer. Scroll down to read Indian Sprinter Dutee Chand Was Diagnosed With Cancer.
Indian Sprinter Dutee Chand Was Diagnosed With Cancer
In the women’s 100m and 200m races at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Dutee, who is four years into a doping ban, appeared subpar and did not even advance past the preliminary round. A few months down the line came the deadly diagnosis from Dr. Sudeep Satpathy, a professor at the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Bhubaneswar.
Dutee, who is just 27, told PTI, “I felt very scary, nervous, thinking what has happened to my life.”
Dutee’s problems started with a groin injury in 2021. She remarked:
“In the National Inter-State Championships, which were held before the Tokyo Olympics, I experienced severe groin pain. I consulted some doctors but the pain did not go. I went to the Olympics (July-August, 2021) and could not do well there. After returning from the Olympics, the discomfort kept escalating. I did an ultrasound in November 2021. Nothing came in the ultrasound.
Then I got an MRI scan done and the doctor (Sudeep Satpathy) told me that a level 1 testicular cancer attack has commenced. He said I have to quit sport otherwise it will get worse. I have an imbalance in my testosterone hormone, so that could be the cause,” she continued. The groin pain was gradually getting worse. Everyone assumed the pain was in the groin, but the doctor warned that if it persisted, a cancer attack could occur.”
In 2015, eight years prior, Dutee made history by famously defeating the World Athletics governing body’s policy on hyperandrogenism—high natural levels of testosterone in females—at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
After taking medication for “15-20 days” following the initial diagnosis, Dutee claimed that she did not retest for cancer because the pain had subsided. She continued:
“At the time, Dr. Satpathy described the situation as a level 1 cancer assault. There was a lot of pain at that time. But the discomfort diminished and there was improvement after taking the medication for 15 to 20 days. I did not undergo any additional medical testing because I was in good health and not in too much pain. Then, I gave this sample to NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency), and then came the dope positive result.”
