Dutee, Rachita spat reaches boiling point

The spat between Rachita Panda Mistry, the former sprint queen of India, and Dutee Chand, currently India’s fastest woman and national record holder in 100-metre sprint, has reached a boiling point.

After being dubbed as a “different” gender by Mistry, Dutee on Thursday said she would file a defamation suit against the former Indian Olympian.

“I have all respect Rachita Panda Mistry, who is also from my state Odisha. However, she is now trying to destroy my career by dubbing me as transgender. I’m a complete woman. I have been seriously hurt by her remarks and I’m planning to sue her,” Dutee told reporters. The athlete, who won bronze in 100metre sprint in the recently-held Asian Athletics Championships here, said she was currently passing under serious trauma after Rachita dubbed her as transgender.

“After she dubbed me as transgender, my own people are distancing themselves from me. People are now treating me differently as if I’m not a human being. This has put me under serious traumatic conditions,” Dutee said, adding, Rachita was jealous of her as “I broke her national record in 100metre

I have all respect for Rachita, who is also from my state Odisha. However, she is now trying to destroy my career by dubbing me as transgender.

— Dutee Chand

run.”

Rachita, who appeared defiant on her remark, told a local television channel over telephone that she stood by what she had said about Dutee and was prepared for defamation case.

I’m not against Dutee running on the track. There are many transgender athletes in the world who want to run. Dutee can compete in that category. — Rachita Mistry

“I’m not against Dutee Chand running on the track and earning medals for the country. Nor do I want to see that her career ends abruptly because of the gender controversy surrounding her. There are many transgender athletes in the world who want to run. Dutee can compete in that category,” she said.

Both Dutee and Rachita are from Odisha. Rachita has settled down in Mumbai after marrying a fellow athlete from Maharashtra.

International Association of Athletics Federation has recently opened hyperandrogen case Dutee Chand in court of arbitration for sport, Switzerland.

Undeterred by such adversities, the 21-year-old ace Indian sprinter said she would focus on her game and try to win medals for the country in all international level competitions.