Indian sprinter Dutee Chand was allegedly caught in an out-of-competition doping test by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after a leaked email on social media stated that there was an ‘adverse analytical finding’ on her urine sample on Wednesday.
Chand denied that she had received this notification by the world body and said that she had been competing for a long time at the highest level and that she had never used a banned substance.
“I have been competing at the highest level for almost a decade and I have never touched or used any kind of performance enhancing drugs. I have given my samples whenever asked. In 2014 I had to fight for my right to run due the hyperandrogenism case and now this has come up. I’ll have to see the letter first to tell you what my next step will be,” said Dutee.
She then added, “I haven’t received any letter from doping agencies or federation yet. I only got to know through media people that a letter is being circulated on social media.”
The urine sample was collected by NADA on December 5th, 2022 in Bhubaneswar and contained the prohibited substance Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs), according to the email.
SARMS, according to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) are a ‘class of therapeutic compounds that have similar anabolic properties to anabolic steroids, but with reduced androgenic (producing male characteristics) properties.’
The difference between anabolic steroids and SARMS, is that the latter only attaches itself to specific tissues whereas anabolic steroids attach themselves to androgen receptors in many parts of the body.
“In medical settings, this could be very useful for stimulating specific tissue growth like muscle and bone, while avoiding unwanted side effects in other tissues like the liver or skin,” states USADA in its website.
Crucially, USADA’S website also states that SARMS are not legal ingredients for any dietary supplements but also says that there are many supplements in the market that advertise their products with the banned substance and/or are contaminated with it.
This was Chand’s A sample that was conducted by NADA. She has the option of asking for her B sample to be tested.
Athletics Federation of India in a statement said,”At that point in time (when she was tested), she wasn’t at the national camp. She left the camp a long time ago and wasn’t training under any official AFI coach. She moved to Odisha somewhere to train by herself and we had no idea about her whereabouts.”(Indian Express)
