Mumbai: India’s fastest woman Dutee Chand said Friday that she could not train properly for a while after revealing to the world that she is in a same-sex relationship.
But things have now settled down now after the initial turmoil, said the top sprinter who is among the few athletes in the world to openly admit to this type of relationship.
“My training was disturbed a lot initially. I’ve already told everyone how much stress my sister gave me. I couldn’t train properly at least for 10-15 days after that. But now, I’m starting to forget everything and getting back to my training,” said Dutee who won two silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games. “I’ve received a lot of support from public and it has made me feel comfortable,” said Dutee.
Asked if she had expected a positive reaction from the public, she said, “I didn’t expect anything. I felt within me that people might speak ill of me after I spoke about it. Because I’m an athletics celebrity, and maybe it will affect my game again, like in 2014. But by the God’s grace, there’s been no such thing.
“AFI, SAI, everyone has supported me, saying it’s your personal life and no action will be taken due to it. In fact, they told me to train well,” she added. Dutee also said that the more the people speak bad about her the more she focuses on her training.
She insisted that coming out of the closet was her personal decision. “That’s my personal life, I can’t guarantee if people want to follow that or not. Not everyone thinks alike in this world,” she said.
Quizzed whether athletes will be inspired by her decision, Dutee said, “I had suffered for the problems in 2014, but I felt good after coming back. Not just me, athletes around the world who were being stopped from competing are now being given a chance. So that’s good,” asserted the athlete.
Asked about South African Caster Semenya’s case, Dutee said, “When it was announced, I spoke to Caster. I told her that if you need any help my team will help you to fight the case. So with the help of my team, she appealed.”