Dutee Chand Wiki, Age, Caste, Girlfriend, Family, Biography & More

Dutee Chand is an Indian athlete. She is a sprinter and has represented India in the Olympics and the Asian Games. She is the National Record holder of a 100m sprint.

Wiki/Biography

Dutee Chand was born on 3 February 1996 (age 23 years; as in 2019). Her zodiac sign is Aquarius. She was born in the Jajpur District of Odisha. She did her schooling from a local school of Chaka Gopalpur Village, Odisha. She then went on to pursue her Bachelor of Laws from the KIIT University, Bhubaneshwar in 2013.

She was always interested in sports. During her childhood days, she used to run around the village all day; the villagers used to say that she had gone mad. On her sister’s advice, she started running along with the banks of her village river.

When she entered college, she was noticed by the team coaches, and she was then trained for college events. She won many events during her college at the state level as well as the national level. She had to move to Patiala later for advanced training. She later moved to Hyderabad for her training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy. She got trained under Coach N Ramesh and used to train amongst boys which made her extremely confident. She was supported by her elder sister, Saraswati, who motivated her harder to achieve her goals. Dutee gives all the credit for her success to Saraswati.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family & Girlfriend

Dutee Chand was born to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand. She is from a BPL (below poverty line) family and had to face many problems while growing up. Her parents are weavers in the Jajpur District of Odisha. Once in an interview, she revealed that her parents earned only Rs. 500 a month and it was difficult to feed her whole family with that income. She has 5 sisters and one brother.

In May 2019, she revealed that she is in a relationship with a 19-year-old girl from her village. She said that she was extremely happy in her relationship. However, she did not reveal the name of her partner. She was appreciated all over India for being brave and speaking about her relationship with a girl so openly. She became the first Indian sportsperson in India to be openly gay.

Career

Her career began in 2012 when she became the National Champion in the under-18 category in the 100m event. She won the Bronze medal at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships at Pune.

In 2013, she became the first Indian ever to reach the global athletics of a 100 metres final; when she reached the final of the 2013 World Youth Championships. The same year, she became the National Champion in the 100 metres and 200 metres sprint at the National Senior Athletics Championships at Ranchi. In June 2014, she won two gold medals at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in the 200 metres and the 4x400m relays.

In the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, she participated in the 60 metres event and set the Indian national record clocking in at 7.28 seconds in the qualifier and won the Bronze medal in the main event. On 25 June 2016, she broke the 100m National record after clocking 11.24 seconds at the 26th International Meeting at Almaty, Kazakhstan. The same year at the Rio Olympics, she became the third Indian woman ever to participate in the Women’s 100 metres sprint.

In 2017, at the Asian Athletics Championship, Bhubhaneshwar, she won two bronze medals, one in the Women’s 100 metres, another in the Women’s 4×100 m relay. At the 2018 Asian Games, Dutee won the silver medal in the women’s 100 metres finals. It was Dutee’s first Asian Games medal and India’s first silver medal in this category after 32 years, since PT Usha had won it in 1996. On 29 August 2018, she won her second silver at the Asian Games in the women’s 200 metres final.

Dutee became the first Indian ever to win a Gold medal in the 100 m event at the 30th Summer University Games (World Universiade) in Naples, Italy. She clocked 11.32 seconds and was in the lead throughout the race.

Controversies

• In 2014, she was dropped from the 2014 Commonwealth Games contingent after the Athletic Federation of India stated that she had Hyperandrogenism (higher testosterone levels than the permissible limit). This made her ineligible to compete as a female athlete. After this, the Commonwealth Games also dropped her from the Indian contingent for the 2014 Asian Games. She was banned from competing in an international event. She appealed the ban in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The ban on her was removed by CAS, citing that there was no evidence that she had high testosterone levels. It was a major win for her as it was a gender case, and she was supported by many prominent sportspersons.

• In 2019, Dutee revealed that she had been in a bisexual relationship for the last five years. She is the first Indian athlete to publicly state that she has been in a relationship with a girl. Many people came out in support of her and said that it was quite brave of her to say this openly. Her family was against the relationship. After her statement, her elder sister, Saraswati, stated that the girl Dutee is in a relationship with is only after her money and properties. Dutee’s mother did not approve of her relationship and said that the girl is Dutee’s niece, and she cannot be Dutee’s partner.

Car Collection

Duttee Chand owns a BMW 5-series, Mahindra XUV-500, Tata Nano and, a Ford Aspire.

Facts

• Her family was poor, and her father couldn’t provide food for all the children. Hence, he sent Dutee and her elder sister, Saraswati, to stay at a Government Sports Hostel.

• The first shoe that Dutee wore at the professional level was a pair of Goldstar shoes, and it took her 2 to 3 weeks to get habitual in shoes.

• She has always idolized her elder sister Saraswati. On numerous occasions and interviews, she stated that it was Saraswati who had encouraged her at all times to pursue sports as a career. Saraswati went to great lengths to get Dutee the best training and coaches possible. Saraswati even took up a job in the police; just to provide her training fees and other expenses.

• She was appointed as an Assistant Manager in the Odisha Mining Corporation on 23 May 2016. This job was given to her by the Odisha Government in recognition of her contribution to sports. In July 2016, she was also given a grant of Rs. 10 Lacs for the preparation of the Rio Olympics 2016. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik directed the Odisha Mining Corporation to provide her with this grant.

• On 31 March 2019, she received a Certificate of Recognition from the Olympians Association of India, appreciating her performances and recognizing the effort she has put into the sport.
  

  Certificate of Recognition to Dutee Chand By The Olympians Association of India

• She is the first athlete in India who has broken her own records for seven times.

• According to Dutee, she doesn’t believe in orthodoxy.

• On 1 November 2019, she appeared on the special “Karamveer” show of KBC season 11 along with Hima Das.
  

• In November 2019, Dutee Chand was featured in the prestigious Time Magazine’s 100 Next.