In spirit of the Rio Olympic Games, The Riveter is following intersex athlete Duttee Chand as she races for the chance to run along side her female peers and competitors.

by Claire Butwinick

photo by Hailey Brumley

Last Friday evening, I tuned in to watch The Riveter’s Tracking Board on Pinterest star, Dutee Chand, race in her first Women’s 100-meter dash of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Her short stature made her stick out when she stood next to her long legged competitors, preparing to take the track. I thought to myself, how could this one athlete stir up this much controversy? Then I saw her run. When the cannon blew, Chand became a 5-foot tall bullet, zooming past the other racers in her hot pursuit to the finish line.

While most Olympic fans (like myself) were marveling at her incredible speed, critics were concentrating on her physique. Dutee Chand is an intersex Olympian who fought tooth and nail for her right to race in the Women’s Track And Field competitions after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred intersex individuals from competing because of their genetic identity.

For the past century, scientists have questioned the advantages in the biological build-up of female athletes who possess masculine traits. Dutee Chand, for example, was first targeted because of her flatter chest, deep voice, and angular bone structure in correlation with her fast feet. Beginning in the 1930’s, the examination of these athletes sparked an interest in genetic testing, which unwrapped a new layer into the complex study of intersex individuals. The research changed the world of sports for years to come.

Intersex individuals are those who possess ambiguous genitalia and/or uncommon levels of testosterone for their sex. Women typically have testosterone levels less than 3 nanomoles/liter, while men produce more than 35 nanomoles/liter. The IOC has stated that female athletes who produce 10 nanomoles/liter or less can qualify to compete in women’s races. Those with testosterone levels higher than 10 nanomoles/liter are said to have unfair biological advantages. In an article explaining why testing for testosterone is such a big deal for athletes, author Samantha Michaels details how “… testosterone is linked with lean body mass, which experts on both sides of the debate say is a reason male athletes tend to perform better than female athletes. Testosterone leads to increased strength, speed, and power, IAAF experts argued, which is why many athletes try to illegally take synthetic versions of the hormone to boost their performance.”

Before Chand presented her case to the IOC, intersex athletes were only allowed to compete if they took testosterone-reducing drugs that could level the playing field for other Olympians. However, in 2015 the court ruled that intersex competitors were allowed to race drug free. Chand and other intersex athletes were no longer required to modify her genetic build up in order to represent their country.

Intersex advocates rejoiced in the ruling, yet some competitive athletes disagreed. Italian middle-distance runner, Elisa Cusma stated about another intersex athlete, Caster Semenya in 2009, “These kind of people should not run with us… For me, she is not a woman, she is a man.”

Some scientists today argue that testosterone levels are not the only determining factor of an athlete’s success, so therefore they should not play a role in the qualification of any future Olympian. Silvia Camporesi, a lecturer in Bioethics & Society at King’s College London, says that all athletes have genetic abnormalities, including hereditary advantages like height and lung capacity that make them stand out from the rest of us. In addition, by singling out high testosterone levels as the sole explanation of an athlete’s abilities, we disregard years of training, ambition, and dedication these athletes still had to take to compete on the world stage.

Dutee Chand did not make it past the preliminary races in the Women’s 100-meter dash, but her legacy was already made before she even stepped onto the track. In her fight to run among her female peers despite her intersex identity proved that it’s not testosterone, but drive and dedication that gets you to the finish line.
See how Duttee Chand and other intersex Olympians’ stories unfold by following Tracking: Sex-Testing In The Olympics on Pinterest. Also be sure to be on the lookout for The Riveter’s collection of Tracking Boards to get your daily dose of current events in the kind of fashion that you deserve.

Claire Butwinick is an intern with The Riveter. She recently moved out West to study journalism at The University of Washington – Seattle. Claire loves singing loudly, funky sunglasses, and all things iridescent. Check out what she’s up to on Instagram.

Hailey Brumley is an intern with The Riveter and a stylist and model in the Minneapolis area. Check out what she’s up to on Instagram.