Dutee Chand reveals she was diagnosed with testicular cancer amid 4-year dope ban

Dutee Chand's troubles began after a groin injury in 2021.

India’s fastest woman athlete Dutee Chand revealed that she was diagnosed with testicular cancer. She was asked to quit sports by her doctor after her Stage 1 diagnosis in November 2021.

This happened after Chand failed to qualify the preliminary round in the Tokyo Olympics women’s 100m and 200m races. The athlete has been banned for four years for doping

"I felt very scary, nervous, thinking what has happened to my life," Chand told PTI. The diagnosis was done by Dr Sudeep Satpathy, a professor at the Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Bhubaneswar.

Her troubles began with a groin injury in 2021. "While competing in the National Inter-State Championships before the Tokyo Olympics, I felt a lot of pain in the groin area. I consulted some doctors but the pain did not go. I went to the Olympics (July-August, 2021) and could not do well there," she said.

"After returning from the Olympics, the pain kept increasing. I did an ultrasound in November 2021. Nothing came in the ultrasound. Then I got an MRI scan done and the doctor (Sudeep Satpathy) told me that a level 1 testicular cancer attack has begun. He said I have to quit sport otherwise it will get worse,” she added.

"I am having testosterone hormone imbalance, so it could be from there. The groin pain was increasing slowly. Everybody was saying it's groin pain but the doctor said cancer attack can happen if it (the pain) continues."

Chand, 27, mentioned that she has not been tested again for cancer since 2021. According to her, the pain subsided after she took medicines for 15-20 days after the first diagnosis.

"At that time, the doctor (Satpathy) said its level 1 cancer attack. There was a lot of pain at that time. But after taking medicine for 15-20 days, the pain subsided, there was recovery. I did not do any other medical test because I was feeling all right, not much of pain. Then, I gave this sample to NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) and then came the dope positive result,” she quoted further.