Dutee Chand

Dutee Chand is an Indian sprinter born on 3rd February 1996. She hails from Chaka Gopalpur village of Jajpur district of Odisha. She represents India internationally in 100m and 200m athletic events.

Dutee Chand - Early Life, Family & Background

Dutee Chand was born to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand. Dutee comes from a family below the poverty line. Both her parents are daily wage earners by weaving fabrics. She had spent most of her childhood years in the coastal area of Gopalpur village.

At the young age of 4, Dutee was inspired to take up running after she saw her elder sister, Saraswati Chand, practicing on the banks of the Brahmani river. Saraswati is a national-level sprinter and currently works with Odisha Police.

In 2006, Dutee got her sports scholarship for admission at the government school in Bhubaneswar and that’s where she began to pursue running seriously. Initially, she used to run barefoot while training because of poor financial condition back at home, she couldn’t afford to buy a new pair of running shoes.

In 2019, she openly came out as a lesbian after she publicly proclaimed about her same-sex relationship. This didn’t go down well with her family. She received severe flak from the hooks and corners of her village. However, she stood strong and defended her stand on her same-sex relationship.

Dutee Chand is currently working as an executive officer at The Odisha Mining Corporation Limited.

Dutee Chand Biography

Dutee Chand’s career began to take off and became a household name in her village after she became U-18 National Champion in 100m by clocking 11.20s in 2012.

In 2013, she clinched the Gold medal in 100m with the timing of 11.23s, followed by another Gold medal in 200m by clocking her personal best of 23.73s at the National Senior Athletics Championships in Ranchi.

At the 2016 National Athletics Championships, Dutee set the national record of 11.33s and won the Gold medal in the 100m dash in New Delhi. Later, she shattered her own national record by clocking 11.24s at the XXVI G Kosanov Memorial Meet at Almaty, Kazakhstan. In that year, she won the Silver and Bronze in 100m and 200m respectively at the South Asian Games in Guwahati.

In 2019, she clinched the Gold medal in 100m by clocking 11.32s at the Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy.

Recently, in March 2021, she won the Gold medal in 100m at the Indian Grand Prix I at the Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports in Patiala.

Dutee Chand Achievements

Dutee Chand made her international debut at the 2013 World Youth Athletics Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, where she made it to the 100m race final and finished 6th with the timing of 11.71s. In that year, she won her first international medal by winning Bronze in the 200m race at the Asian Athletics Championships in Pune.

In 2014, Dutee clinched her maiden International Gold Medal in the 200m race with the timing of 23.74s, followed by another Gold medal in 4*400m relay with the timing of 3:40.53s at the Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Taipei, Taiwan.

At the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, Dutee won the Bronze medal in a 60m race by clocking 7.28s. Later in the year, she made her Olympics debut at the Rio Olympics but finished 7th in 100m heats with the timing of 11.69s.

In 2017, she won two Bronze medals in 100m and 4*400m relay at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar. At the 2018 Asian Games, Dutee recorded her personal best of 23.00s in 100m semi-finals before she clinched the Silver medal with the timing of 23.20s in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In 2019, Dutee set the national record in the 100m race by clocking 11.26s before finishing 5th in the final, followed by the Bronze medal in the 200m race with the timing of 23.24s at the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.

Dutee Chand hasn’t yet qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as she’s yet to achieve the qualification mark of 11.15s.