The year 2019 has been a momentous one for sprinter Dutee Chand — from becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal in women's 100-metre sprint at the 30th Summer University Games in Naples, Italy and then breaking her own record in the 100 m race to coming out as India’s first openly gay athlete.
And now, Dutee Chand has been chosen as the Sportsperson of the Year 2019 by Vogue India. She shared a picture of the cover on her Instagram handle, and the picture is simply power personified.
The athlete is sporting an outfit by H&M, designed by Suket Dhir. She has been styled by Daniel Franklin and hair and makeup has been done by Maniasha. She has been photographed by Ashish Shah.
In their writeup about Dutee, Vogue India says, “Apart from record-breaking firsts on the track, Dutee Chand is also India’s first openly lesbian athlete. The professional sprinter announced that she was in a same-sex relationship earlier this year, and earned high praise from many quarters, including talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Just over a month ago, Chand clinched the gold medal in 100 metres at the World University Games in Naples, making her the first-ever Indian woman track and field athlete to do so, clocking 11.32 seconds. Next up on her list? 'My ultimate aim is to bring home the gold medal for India in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,'” she reveals.
I received vogue award for Sportsperson of the Year #VogueWomenOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/ZfQOMU3AqF
— Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand) October 19, 2019
This is the second magazine cover that Dutee has been featured in. Earlier this year, Cosmopolitan featured her on their digital cover for the month of July, soon after she became the first Indian sportsperson to openly declare that she’s in a same-sex relationship. In an exclusive interview, Dutee had spoken about her journey as an athlete and her coming-out story.
Born in Chaka Gopalpur in Odisha to cotton weavers, Dutee has been championing the cause of eligibility of female athletes in track and field events.