Dutee Chand (born 3 February 1996) is an Indian professional sprinter and current national champion in the women's 100 metres event. She is the first Indian to win a gold medal in 100m race in a global competition. She is the third Indian woman to ever qualify for the Women's 100 metres event at the Summer Olympic Games. However, in the 2016 Summer Olympics, her 11.69 s in the preliminary round did not qualify her for the next round. In 2018, Chand clinched silver in women's 100m at the Jakarta Asian Games. It was India's first medal in this event since 1998. In 2019, she became the first Indian sprinter to win gold at the Universiade, clocking 11.32 seconds in the 100 m race.
She is the reigning national champion in the 100 m event. Chand, who was once forced to sit out due to the IAAF hyperandrogenism regulations, qualified for the Women's 100 m event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 36 years after P. T. Usha took part in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. In 2016, she was appointed as an assistant manager in the state government-run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
Dutee is also 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. Later that year, she signed up a two-year deal with sportswear brand Puma to endorse their products.
Early life
Chand was born on 3 February 1996 to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand in the Chaka Gopalpur village, Jajpur district of Odisha. She is from a below poverty line weavers family. Her source of inspiration is her older sister Saraswati Chand, who competed in running at the state level. Chand and her elder sister Saraswati were enrolled in a government sports hostel in 2006.
Career
2012–2013
In 2012, Dutee Chand became a national champion in the under-18 category, when she clocked 11.85 seconds in the 100 metres event.
Clocking 23.811 seconds, Chand won the bronze in the Women's 200 metres event at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships at Pune. The year also saw her become the first Indian to reach the final of a global athletics 100 metres final, when she reached the final in the 2013 World Youth Championships. In the same year, she became the national champion in 100 metres and 200 metres when she won the events clocking 11.73 s in the final in 100 metres and a career-best 23.73 s in 200 metres at the National Senior Athletics Championships at Ranchi.
2014 hyperandrogenism controversy
In June 2014, she won two gold medals at Asian Junior Athletics Championships in 200 metres and 4 × 400 m relays. In the 200 m event she bettered her previous timing to 23.74 secs and hoping to get qualified for the Commonwealth Games but Chand 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. Following the Commonwealth Games she was also dropped from the Indian contingent for the 2014 Asian Games. There was no suggestion that Chand was involved in cheating or doping, and the decision was widely criticized by intersex advocates.
2015 testosterone rule change
Chand appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Canadian law firm Davies, Ward, Philips & Vineberg, LLP represented her on a pro bono basis. The IAAF policy on hyperandrogenism, or high natural levels of testosterone in women, was suspended following the case of Dutee Chand v. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) & The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, decided in July 2015. The ruling found that there was a lack of evidence provided that testosterone increased female athletic performance and notified the IAAF that it had two years to provide the evidence. This effectively removed the suspension of Chand from competition, clearing her to race again.
Santhi Soundarajan, an Indian middle-distance runner, extended her support to Chand, saying that Chand should not be "victimized". She said that steps should be taken to ensure Chand's return to the track.
2016
Following the hyperandrogenism rule change, Chand resumed competing and participated at the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in 60 metres where in the qualification round she set the Indian national record clocking in at 7.28 secs and went on to win the bronze medal in the final with a time of 7.37 secs.