Dutee Chand: The Power Woman of sports in India

Dutee Chand is an Indian professional sprinter. She is the current national champion in the women’s 100-meter event. Let’s wish our heartfelt happy birthday to this awesome athlete.

Dutee Chand was born on 3 February 1996 in Jajpur, Odisha. She came from a Below Poverty Level family. She and her sister were enrolled in a government sports hostel in 2006. In 2012, Dutee Chand became a national champion in the under-18 category. She finished in 11.85 seconds in the 100-meter event.

In 2013, Dutee Chand won the bronze medal in the Women’s 200-meter event at the Asian Athletics Championships. The same year, Dutee Chand became the national champion in 100 meters and 200 meters. She won these events clocking 11.73s in the final in 100 meters and a career-best 23.73s in 200 meters at the National Senior Athletics Championships.

In 2018 Dutee Chand won two silver medals in the Asian Games. She won these in women’s 100 and 200 meters sprints respectively. Dutee’s silver medal in 100 meters was India’s first silver medal in this category in 32 years since P. T. Usha won it in 1986. At the 2019 Summer Universiade, Dutee Chand won gold in the 100-meter race, becoming the first Indian woman sprinter to win gold in a global competition. She is the third Indian woman to ever qualify for the Women’s 100-meter event at the Summer Olympic Games.

–Poorna Krishnan