What It Takes To Be - Race To The Finish

Dutee Chand’s journey is about a girl who dared to dream. In a conversation with Nikshubha Garg, the athlete talks about her struggles and preparing for the Olympics

- Nikshubha Garg

Born to a weavers’ family in Odisha, Dutee Chand didn’t have the means to train professionally when she took to running early on, but determined to turn her life around, she faced every challenge, and is proof that hard work will always pay off. The sprinter and current national champion (women’s 100 metres event), is also India’s first athlete to openly come out as gay, paving the way for several others in her community in India and around the world. Excerpts from a conversation with the PUMA athlete.

Tell us about your workout routine in times of the pandemic. Before the lockdown, I trained for six hours a day (approximately), and it included track work out, swimming, core workout, and gym training. However, due to the lockdown, I could not stick to the same training regime. At the moment, I train on the track inside the campus of my housing complex.

Being an athlete, is not being able to go out posing a challenge mentally as well? Do you have thoughts of uncertainty of the future?