Odisha’s Dutee Chand Nominated For BBC Indian Sportswoman Award

Bhubaneswar: Ace sprinter Dutee Chand has been nominated for the prestigious BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award.

The award honours the contributions of Indian sportswomen and celebrates their achievements in the country.

In its nomination, BBC mentioned, “Dutee Chand is one of South Asia’s fastest sprinters. The 25-year-old national 100 m champion is India’s first openly gay athlete and risen from a humble background to become one of her nation’s most promising sportswomen.”

Following the nomination, the sprinter told BBC: “People around the world see Dutee Chand running for just 10 to 12 seconds. But no one knows that to run those 11 seconds, I have to strenuously train for 365 days.

“If you don’t win people will forget you. So you always have to win. And you have to work very hard for it. I train six times a day,” she added.

Besides her gruelling training schedule, Dutee also described how she endured sleeping on train platforms and battled allegations of elevated hormone levels.

Vote For Dutee

The other contenders for the award this year are shooter Manu Bhaker, chess player Koneru Humpy, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Indian hockey team captain Rani.

You can make Dutee win by clicking here to vote for her. Voting is open until February 24 and the winner will be announced on March 8 at a virtual ceremony in Delhi and on the BBC Sport website.

Indian badminton star and Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu had won the inaugural edition of the award in 2020.

Also Read: Odisha’s Dutee Chand Selected For SAI’s Core Group For Olympic Preparation