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India Dutee Chand has been a trailblazer for Indian athletics, becoming a two-time Olympian and national record holder in the 100m, while also openly advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
Puma signed Dutee Chand for a two-year endorsement deal in August 2019, making it her first brand association. She joined other top athletes associated with the sportswear brand.
Dutee Chand partnered with Mothers Against Vaping, lending her prominent sports figure status to amplify the organization's work.
An unspecified leading jewellery retail chain signed Dutee Chand as a brand ambassador, rolling out a campaign to support her.
Born on February 3, 1996, in Chaka Gopalpur, Odisha, India, Dutee Chand emerged from a weaver’s family and was inspired to pursue running by her older sister, Saraswati. Her early career saw her become a national champion in the under-18 100m event in 2012. Chand continued to achieve success with impressive displays, including participation in the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships, the World Youth Championships, and the National Senior Athletics Championships at Ranchi. In 2014, she secured two gold medals at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Taipei in the 200m and 4x400m relays. Her career faced a significant turning point in 2014 when she was dropped from the Commonwealth Games contingent due to hyperandrogenism regulations. Chand challenged this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2015, resulting in the suspension of the regulations and her clearance to compete.
Following the CAS ruling, Chand returned to the track, setting a national record in the 60-meter event’s qualification round at the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships with 7.28 seconds, where she also won a bronze medal. The same year, she broke the 100m national record twice, achieving 11.24 seconds at the XXVI International Meeting G. Kosanov Memorial in Kazakhstan, which secured her spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Although her Rio campaign ended in the heats, it provided valuable international experience. In 2018, Chand earned two silver medals at the Asian Games in Jakarta, in both the 100m and 200m events, making significant contributions to India’s medal tally in these categories after many years. She further achieved a historic milestone in 2019 by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in a 100m event at a global meet, the World Universiade in Naples.
Beyond her athletic achievements, Dutee Chand made history in 2019 by publicly coming out as India’s first openly gay athlete. This decision, influenced by the decriminalization of gay sex in India in 2018, brought both widespread support and personal challenges, including backlash from within her family. Despite these personal struggles, her career continued. She made a second Olympic appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Games in the 100m and 200m events, qualifying based on world rankings rather than direct entry times. Chand was employed as an executive officer in the state PSU Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd in 2016, providing her with financial stability. In 2023, it was announced that Chand had tested positive for prohibited substances. She has indicated plans to retire after the Paris 2024 Olympics, citing her age and decreasing speed.
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