Diary

Dutee Chand is an Indian sprinter and current national champion of the women's 100m event

- Rakhi Bose

Humble Beginnings

I come from the dusty rural village of Chhaka Gopalpur in the Jajapur district of Odisha, where girls were married off at the age of 15-16. When I was growing up, girls were taught to stay at home and learn housekeeping. After all, a woman's place is inside the home as caregiver and cook. I am not a commendable cook and I never knew how to keep my house clean as a child. But I could run better than most boys out in the streets.

By 2012, I had become a national champion in sprinting in the under-18 category after I clocked 11.85 seconds in the 100 metres event. A year later, I won a bronze at the Women's 200 metres event at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships in Pune, clocking 23.811 seconds. I also became the first Indian to become a finalist at a global athletics 100 metres competition at the 2013 World Youth Championship. In the monsoon of 2014, I brought home two gold medals at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in 200 metres and 4 x 400 m relays.

A Rude Shock