India’s first-ever LGBTQ+ athlete, Dutee Chand represents India in Women’s 100-metre category in track and field event. Born in a below-poverty line weaver’s family, DutEe Chand has become an inspiration for thousands around the world after giving India a medal in the Asian Games after 32 years, since PT Usha won in 1986.
EARLY LIFE
Hailing from the Jajpur district of Odisha, Dutee Chand was born on 3 February 1996 to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand. Coming from a very below-poverty line weaver’s family, Dutee Chand did her schooling from Local School of Chaka Gopalpur Village, Odisha. She attended KIIT University, Bhubaneshwar to pursue her bachelor’s of Law.
In a bid to become a professional sprinter she underwent a lot of hurdles, however, the 23-year old sprinter had no shortage of inspiration, with her sister herself being a state-level sprinter with as many as six medals under her belt.
PERSONAL LIFE
Indian sprinter, Dutee Chand is currently working as a state executive officer in the state PSU The Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd.
Post India’s Supreme Court’s historic decision of scraping Article 377, the India sprinter came out in open and spoke about her same-sex relationship. As a consequence, Dutee faced a lot of backlash from her home village.
Dutee disclosed her same-sex relationship in an Interview. Apparently, she is in a relationship with a 19-year old girl from her village. Though, she didn’t disclose her name.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Dutee Chand burst onto the scene after winning the under-19 100m National Championship, clocking a time of 11.8 seconds at the age of only 16. This was followed by a bronze medal in the 200m at the Asian Athletics Championships, clocking a time of 23.811 seconds.
The Year 2013 proved out to be a breakthrough year for the Indian sprinter as she became the first Indian sprinter to qualify for the final of the World Youth Championships, held in Ukraine. In the same year, she became the National Champion twice in the 100m and 200m category, clocking 11.73 seconds and 23.73 seconds respectively.
Dutee Chand’s success in the sport was put to a halt owing to the Hyderandrogenism scandal, following which she was axed from the Indian contingent for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The omission was made on the ground that she has
Hyperandrogenism, and thus making her ineligible to compete as a female athlete.
The controversy ran for around two years, however, Dutee unwilling to give up took the AFI and IAAF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), demanding that her plea be heard.
As a result, CAS decided to let Dutee to once again participate in global events.
Dutee Chand came back even stronger, winning the 100m and 200m National Open Athletics Championships, held in Kolkata in September.
She got qualified for the Rio Olympics 2016 and became the third woman to participate for the Women’s 100 metre in the perennial tournament.
Post her show in Rio Olympics, Duttee began training alongside PV Sindhu at Hyderabad.
The Year 2019 saw her winning gold in the 100m 100m race, becoming the first Indian woman sprinter to win gold at the Universiade. She finished the sprint in 11.32 seconds.
HONOURS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Asian Games
- Dutee Chand bagged a silver medal in 100m event at the 2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta.
- Dutee Chand won a silver medal in 200m event at the 2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta.
Asian Championships
- Dutee Chand bagged a bronze medal in 200m event at the 2013 Asian Championships, held in Pune.
- Dutee Chand bagged a bronze medal in 100m event at the 2017 Asian Championships, held in Bhubaneswar.
- Dutee Chand also won a bronze medal in 200m event at 2019 Asian Championships, held in Doha.
ASIAN INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dutee Chand has also bagged a bronze medal in 60m event at Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, held in Doha.
ASIAN JUNIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dutee Chand took the world by storm after winning gold in 200m event at Asian Junior Athletics Championships, held in Taipei.
Dutee Chand also bagged a gold medal in the 4x400m event at Asian Junior Athletics Championship held in Taipei.
DUTEE CHAND AWARDS AND HONOURS
The Government Orissa awarded Dutee Chand with INR 3 Crores for winning the silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games.
DUTEE CHAND PERSONAL INFORMATION
Full Name: Dutee Chand
Age: 23
Hometown: Chaka Gopalpur Village, Odisha
Nationality: Indian
Date of Birth: 3 February 1996
School: Local School of Chaka GopalpurVillage, Odisha
College: KIIT University, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS
Height: 5’6 inches
Weight: 50kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
DUTEE CHAND CONTROVERSY
After bursting phenomenally onto the scene by becoming the national champion twice in 100 and 200m category in 2013, the Indian sprinter’s phenomenal run saw a halt, as she was axed from the Indian contingent for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on the ground that she had Hyperandrogenism.
For those of you who don’t know, Hyperandrogenism is a medical condition which states that a person has higher testosterone levels than a normal person.
But Dutee wasn’t a girl to bow down who fought against the International Association of Athletics Federation and dragged them to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In 2015, the CAS decided to temporarily allow Dutee to participate in global events, while also suspending the hyperandrogenism regulation for female track and field athletes for two years.
The CAS has given the IAAF a period of two years to provide sufficient proof that corroborates the correlation between gender and testosterone levels. Failure of the IAAF to do so would mean revoking of the hyperandrogenism clause altogether.
Immediately after the decision was announced Dutee came back stronger than ever, winning the 100m and the 200m title at the National Open Athletics Championships in Kolkata in September.
DUTEE CHAND NET WORTH
Dutee Chand’s net worth is estimated between $100k- $1M.
SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE
Twitter: @DuteeChand
