Dutee Chand: I lost all my honour in landmark gender case

Dutee Chand won 200m bronze at the 2013 Asian Championships

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand says she is glad others will not face similar abuse to her after being cleared to compete following a landmark gender case.

Chand, 19, had been banned since last summer after failing a hormone test.

But the Court of Arbitration for Sport has suspended "hyperandrogenism" rules, which will be scrapped if athletics bosses cannot provide new evidence.

"I know people started suspecting whether I was a woman or a man. All the honour I earned - I lost," Chand said.

"My friends used to start asking what's wrong with me, and started to avoid me. In training centres, where girls used to share rooms, I was kept separately."

The ruling will allow Chand to compete for India in the World Athletics Championships in Beijing in August.

Chand told BBC Hindi that she "always knew" she was going to win the case but admits she has also suffered from a loss of form.

"I never thought I would lose, because I always knew I was not at fault," she added.

"I am very thankful to the judges that they have taken a close look at my case and given the decision in my favour. I have got justice. I am a normal girl.

"When I got to know the judgement - I can't tell you how I felt. I am happy that no-one else will have to hear all the abuse that I had to hear."

Chand, who missed the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games during her suspension, has been the first athlete to challenge the regulations, introduced in the wake of the Caster Semenya affair in 2009.

The South African teenager was asked to take a gender test shortly before winning the 800m at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin but subsequently returned to the sport, winning an Olympic silver medal at London 2012.

In a statement, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said the new regulations had been adopted "following a lengthy and comprehensive consultation exercise" with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Athletics' governing body said it would meet the IOC and experts as soon as possible "to discuss how best to address this interim ruling" which lasts for two years.

Chand's initial suspension was applied by the Athletics Federation of India in line with the IAAF's guidelines on women testing for high levels of naturally occurring testosterone.

The Indian champion's legal team argued the ruling was discriminatory and flawed at a hearing in March.