Dutee Chand becomes the first Indian woman to win 100m Gold in World Universiade

• Dutee Chand won a gold medal in the 100-metre sprint at the 30th Summer University Games in Naples, Italy.
• She holds 100m National record with 11.24 seconds. She made it into the finals with a timing of 11.41 seconds in the semifinals.

India’s champion sprinter, Dutee Chand made headlines again by becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the 100-metre sprint at the 30th Summer University Games in Naples, Italy. She finished the race in 11.32 seconds.


The 23-year-old sprinter, is also India’s first openly gay athelete. She holds 100m National record with 11.24 seconds. She made it into the finals with a timing of 11.41 seconds in the semifinals.

This is a historic win for India as no athlete has won a gold medal at this edition of the games. In 2015, shot-putter Inderjeet Singh landed a gold medal in Universiade.

‘Picked it Up’

Dutee Chand took to Twitter to express her happiness. "With years of hard work and your blessings, I have yet again broken the record by winning the Gold in the 100m dash in 11.32 seconds at The World University Games, Napoli. In the pictures, are the other winners too, with a heart of Gold from Germany and Sweden."

She also posted a picture of herself with the gold medal and captioned it: "Picked it up". "Pull me down, I will come back stronger!" she tweeted another picture.

Chand, a 100m record holder and winner of two Asian Games silver medals, recently made the headlines after she opened up about her homosexuality. She revealed that she is in a same-sex relationship with a girl from her hometown.

Born in Chaka Gopalpur in Odisha to cotton weavers, Chand has been championing the cause of eligibility of female athletes in track and field events.

With IANS