P.T. Usha has a strange feeling that many girls, who look like men and who appear to have high testosterone levels, were suddenly popping up at national athletics meets in recent times.
“There are a lot of athletes like this in India and this has come up in recent times, especially in events like the 200m, 400m and 800m,” Usha told The Hindu on Wednesday after learning about the IAAF’s victory in the Caster Semenya case at the CAS.
“The new rules (that women athletes should take medication to reduce their testosterone levels if they want to compete at the international level) should be enforced as soon as possible in India before others start talking about it.”
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Once the rules are enforced, the timings in many events would slow down too, felt Usha.
“Now the timings may not be spectacular as they had been in the recent past. We had come to a stage when natural girls could not do anything about it. So, this is a big victory for women. I welcome this decision because women should only run against women.”
Usha said Tintu Luka, her best trainee, had suffered a lot running against athletes like Semenya and those who were on drugs during her best years, especially at the 2012 London Olympics.
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No concrete evidence as of now: Valson
C.K. Valson, secretary, Athletics Federation of India, felt the CAS verdict would not affect the country’s athletes in a big way.
“I don’t find any problem as of now because Dutee Chand runs only the 100m and 200m (the regulations apply for events from the 400m to the mile). In the case of other athletes, there is no concrete evidence as of now,” said Valson.
Bahadur Singh, the Chief National Coach, said he would not like to comment on the issue.