In another historic moment for Indian athletics, Dutee Chand sprinted to a historic 100m gold at the World University Games in Naples. She clocked 11.32 seconds. She had earlier qualified with a 11.41 seconds finish in the semifinal heats. What makes her achievement more remarkable, is the fact that she is the first Indian sprinter, male or female, to win a 100 metre gold at the global event.?
On a day we lost in the World Cup semis to New Zealand, this victory came as a great source of comfort.?
After writing her name into the history books, the 23 year old tweeted, "With years of hardwork and your blessings, I have yet again broken the record by winning the Gold in 100m dash in 11.32 seconds at The World University Games, Napoli. In the pictures, are the winners too, with a heart of Gold from Germany and Sweden.¡± In another tweet that followed she wrote, "Picked it up."
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It¡¯s been some turnaround for Dutee, whose career was almost cut short in 2014, when Athletic Federation of India, dropped her from the Commonwealth Games contingent, citing Hyperandrogenism as a reason. But in 2015, Dutee Chand appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the decision was ruled in her favour. It¡¯s been a wonderful script since, but it has never been easy. From fighting poverty, and having been questioned over her gender - Dutee Chand, has never let anything come in her way of achieving her dreams.?
The monumental breakthrough for the sprinter from Odisha, came in 2016, when after missing the Rio Olympics qualification of 11.32 secs by one-hundredth of a second, in the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships in New Delhi. However, Dutee recorded her career best 11.24 secs at the International Meeting G Kosanov Memorial at Almaty, Kazakhstan, thereby qualifying for the Olympic Games. Although she didn¡¯t make it past the heats, she became only the third Indian woman to participate in the Women¡¯s 100 metres.?
2017 was a very productive year for the 23-year-old, she won two bronze medals at the Asian Athletics Championship, one in 100m and the other in 4*100m relay. Two silver medals followed in 2018, at the Asian Games - one each in 100m and 200m.?
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TOI
It takes a giant heart and leap of faith to achieve so much at such a young age. Not only has Dutee made noise on the race tracks, but off it, too. In May, this year, Dutee Chand openly came out as gay. A first for any Indian athlete, and probably a pathbreaker for many. It takes more than courage, and what Dutee did, sets an example for a society like ours, where stigma around LGBTQ still looms large.?
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TOI
After publicly revealing of having a same-sex relationship, her parents haven¡¯t taken well to it. Dutee, in an interview had said that while her parents haven¡¯t raised any objection, her sister has threatened to expel her from the family. Even after the historic scrapping of the Section 377 last year, that criminalized homosexuality, the acceptance is yet to find it¡¯s way to Indian society. But many, including American TV host Ellen DeGeneres, have hailed her for coming out, and breaking the taboo.
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