Sharing is Good Karma:

Sprinter Dutee Chand will be representing India in the coming Tokyo Olympics. She is the current national champion in the women’s 100 meters event and the third Indian woman to ever qualify for the Women’s 100 meters event at the Summer Olympic Games. Dutee Chand has won silver and gold at Asian Games and Universiade and has many more accolades to her credit.

This year, she has also won the prestigious Arjuna Award, an award bestowed to recognize outstanding achievements in sports. The award was introduced in 1961 and carries a cash prize of ₹5,00,000, a bronze statue of Arjuna, and a scroll.

In a candid conversation with LifeBeyondNumbers on the occasion of National Sports Day, Dutee Chand shared her heart out about her struggles and strengths in life.

“I qualified for Arjuna Awards criteria for many years as I have been winning for India for several consecutive years at the international level. Being chosen finally has given me immense happiness. I am glad to be able to represent my home state Odisha and be recognized at the national level,” she said with an infectious smile in response to the award.

But how much do you know her?

Dutee Chand – The athlete

Dutee Chand was born on 3 February 1996 to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand in the Jajpur district of Odisha. Coming from a weaver’s family that is below the poverty line, Dutee’s growing up years were not easy. She was introduced to sports by her elder sister Saraswati Chand, who competed in running at the state level and serves in the state police.

“I started running at a very tender age. My elder sister was into sports since her school days and won many scholarships and ultimately a job in the police force. She is the one who showed me the direction and led me into the field. I would run barefoot on the river bank as there were no tracks in my village. That’s how I started training and went on to win at school, city, district, and state-level. One after the other. In 2006, I entered the state sports hostel at Bhubaneswar to ultimately train as a proper athlete. That’s how my journey began,” she narrated.

Dutee Chand, the sprinter, has been largely supported by Dr. Achyuta Samant, Founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in her building. She constantly mentions him to be behind her achievements. Dutee came in contact with him when she enrolled herself in the university to study law.

“I come from a very poor family. So when I completed my 12^th grade I was wondering how I could carry on my education along with sports. I was also facing a lack of funds for my training. At that very moment, I was introduced to Dr. Achyuta Samanta. He stood by me like a pillar and offered me to study law at his university for free. Besides, this he has constantly provided me with all sorts of support to train and grow as an athlete. He does the same to date.”

Hyperandrogenism

Dutee was dropped from the 2014 Commonwealth Games contingent at the last minute after the Athletic Federation of India stated that hyperandrogenism made her ineligible to compete as a female athlete.

She was also dropped from the Indian contingent for the 2014 Asian Games.

Following this, Chand appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Thus, the IAAF policy on hyperandrogenism, or high natural levels of testosterone in women, was suspended following the case of Dutee Chand, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) & The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, decided in July 2015. It was found that there was a lack of evidence. This effectively removed all suspension.

Later on, Dutee also extended her support to Caster Semenya, the current Olympic champion when she faced similar allegations of hyperandrogenism.

Same-sex partner

Dutee Chand is India’s first athlete to openly come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community when she spoke about being in a same-sex relationship in 2019.

During our conversation, Dutee revealed that the Indian Supreme Court’s historic decision to decriminalize gay sex in 2018 encouraged her to speak publicly about her sexuality.

Her revelation brought a lot of criticism and debate. Dutee shared that she could not leave her house for almost 15 days or so due to peer pressure after her confession.

“Everyone knows that I am a straight forward person so I had no fear in confessing that I happen to love a girl from my village. But small towns and the majority of the population did not take my life decision positively. I had to face a lot of backlash for this. For 15 days I could not leave my house. Even the media was highlighting the issue a lot. Thankfully I received immense support as well and could win over the negativity. To date, our families are not very happy about my love life, but it is what it is,” she said with a heavy sigh.

Selling her BMW

She came into limelight recently for putting up her BMW for sale. The media speculated that she was undergoing financial issues. Dutee clears out all the air.

“I own three cars one of which is a BMW. These days we stay in Bhubaneswar in a rented house and the lockdown made it difficult for me to maintain all the three vehicles. You see cars don’t run much these days. So, I put it up for sale. Unfortunately, the media misled the public for several speculations.”

Preparing for Olympics

The lockdown has affected her preparation for the Olympics. Dutee is still taking risks and reaching the Kalinga Stadium every day without a fail to train all by herself.

“I am not in the best of my shape right now. The Olympics will need a lot of preparation. My entire team is working from home and guiding me virtually. I am going to the stadium every day and spending hours in the field and gym. Let’s hope for the best.”

Aiding stranded people during this pandemic

Dutee was recently seen distributing sanitary pads and arranging buses for those who were stranded in the pandemic.

“I have been very much worried about the people in need and so I arranged for the buses in Jajpur, my home town. I also distributed sanitary pads to the BPL families to ease their troubles.“

Dutee’s message for female sports enthusiasts

Dutee says that sports is the only field where hard work pays rightly.

“Girls should know that sports do not involve any form of unfairness or compromise. The only thing one needs is hard work and determination to achieve. Nothing can stop you if you give your best.”

Besides being an athlete, she is presently employed as an executive officer in the state PSU, The Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd.

We at LifeBeyondNumbers wish her all the success in the coming Olympics and the life beyond that.