The first Indian athlete who came out as gay, Dutee Chand stated “coming out of the closet” was better than “hiding her personal life” from public.
Dutee Chand came under media attention in last May when she confessed she is in same-sex relationship with another woman. Her family vehemently objected to it and threatened to disown her. But she was undaunted and expressed her desire to settle down with her partner.
Dutee Chand commented to PTI, “There is no pressure on me at the moment because of my personal life, especially since I have come out of the closet. In fact, I used to feel pressured and scared when I was hiding.”
The 23-year old athlete concluded, “After speaking up, a lot of people have shown support and appreciated my efforts and that makes me feel good.”
Dutee was the first Indian female athlete to earn a gold in the World University Games last months by winning the 100m dash in a time of 11.32 seconds.
She is now preparing for National Inter-state Championship, beginning on Tuesday in Luckhnow in a bid to qualify for the World Championships, to be held in Doha next month.
India’s fastest woman said, “I will take part in National inter-state and I can assure you that you will see a lot of improvement in my timing.”
Dutee Chand said her aim is to make a mark in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, for which she is yet to qualify. The women’s 100m Olympic qualification standard is 11.15 seconds. In her words, “While there is a difference between my best timing and Olympic qualifying timing at present, I am working really hard to cross that. My training schedule is pretty tough at the moment and I am sure I will definitely for the Olympics this time.”
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