‘Felt good that I could help my village’
Unlock 2.0 brought some good news for Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, as she could finally resume her training in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. “I have started to get back into my training schedule but it will still take time to continue training for Olympics. After almost two months, I started running on the track, and it felt so good,” she says, adding that she will have to start everything from scratch for Olympics.
In May, Chand, 24, arranged special passes to travel to her village in Jajpur, Odisha, and distributed essentials, including sanitary napkins, to women. “It was a very good feeling that I could do something for the village where I grew up. For someone like me, who started training at very young age with no guidance, I know how tough it is to survive without facilities. I tried my best to provide whatever I could and I would want to give back to society in future as well,” says the Asian Games (2018) silver medalist.
Recalling her struggles while growing up in a small village, she feels that things are different now as parents are not as hesitant to send their daughters into sports. “Whether it was my personal life or my training, I have faced a lot of criticism. I have grown up training barefoot in a small village,” she shares.
Elaborating on her lockdown experience, Chand, the current national champion in women’s 100 metres event, says, “I watched lot of movies and called up old friends because that was essential to keep my mind happy... My only focus was on general exercise to keep myself fit.”