“I was diagnosed with cancer,” says Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand amid dope row

Bhubaneswar: Fastest sprinter of the country Dutee Chand made a shocking revelation of her life after she was banned from all national and international competitions following a dope test.

The sprint queen revealed that she was diagnosed with level-1 cancer for which she was under medication for the past few months. She said that she was found positive in the dope test due to those medicines.

“My sample test came positive for cancer on November 28, 2022, when I was at home during my holidays. Again, I went for a test whose report was positive for cancer in March. Already, I had developed groin pain for which I consulted doctors who prescribed me some medicines through WhatsApp. However, the NADA authorities did not accept that online prescription,” Dutee said.

“In my decade-long career, I have never done something that would be against the norms. After I was detected with level-1 cancer, the doctors advised me to quit sports. I was scared and nervous. Assuming that I would be cured of the disease, I took medicines including some painkillers. But I was not aware of that fact that some drugs had banned substances,” she told media.

Dutee has been banned for failing in dope test conducted by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). The 27-year-old sprinter, who won 100m and 200m silver medals in the 2018 Asian Games, is the first Indian athlete to talk about her same-sex relationship openly in 2019.

When asked about further step after ban, she said, “I appeal to state government, centre and NADA to make relaxation in the punishment so that that I could participate in upcoming international sports events including 2024 Olympics.”