I will decide who will be the one to write my life story: Champion sprinter Dutee Chand

Once she was famous as the athlete who had overcome tremendou hurdles — poverty an questions raised abou her gender — and now she is even more famo for winning two silver medals at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018.

That’s the kind of story that makes for bestselling books and h films, and sprinter Dut Chand is getting offers for both.

“Mere upar bahut saara book likhne ke liy aa rahe hain, lekin bina permission, koi book nahin likh payega, nah? (I’ve been getting a lot of requests for penning a book about my life, but they can’t write a book without my permission, right?),” says the 22-year old athlete from Odisha, who won silver in the 100 and 200m events.

She tells us this in the context of reports that her life’s journey will be penned in a book by journalist-author-filmmaker Sundeep Misra, who previously authored the biography of hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay. The book is slated for release in 2019.

But Dutee says that she hasn’t given permission for this book. “My story is in my hands, and I’ll decide on the person who writes it,” she says. “They can write a news article, but not a book without my permission. I haven’t told anybody to write a book on my life. He told the media that he’s writing it. Maine bhi mail daal diya ki main toh aapko permission nahin diya, aap kaise book likh rahe ho? Kya pata hain aapko mere baare mein? (So I also wrote an e-mail asking him how he’s writing a ok, when I haven’t ven permission for it. ve asked him what he nows about me),” says utee.

The sprinter says at her life has been a ruggle since she was a ild. “My story is very ng, and for somebody write a good story, e needs a good riter, too. My focus is the Olympics, and tonabookora opic on me. Mere ar movie banane liye bahut rectors phone kar he hain (I’ve been tting a lot of lls from mmakers for a opic),” she ys.

Citing a w Bollywood mes who ve proached r, Dutee Omprakash Mehra and Anil Kapoor’s production house. “I’ve also got a mail from Hollywood. But I have told everyone that I won’t be making a film at the moment. I want to focus on the Olympics. After the Olympics are over, I can focus on making a film,” she says. However, she adds that biopics on sportspersons do give “motivation to children”.

My story is in my hands... They can write a news article, but not a book without my permission. I haven’t told anybody to write a book on my life. DUTEE CHAND, ATHLETE

PHOTO: SUBHANKAR CHAKRABORTY/HT Dutee Chand