Sprinter Dutee Chand put on sale her BMW car to raise funds to take care of training expenses.
“It is a very costly car which I bought at ₹30 lakhs and its maintenance has become an issue for me. Moreover, I don’t have the parking slot too to keep it as I have two more cars.
ADVERTISEMENT
“So, I have decided to sell it off so that the money raised can be handy to continue training,” the 24-year-old Dutee, who has been training in Bubaneshwar, told
“I have to spend about ₹1 lakh alone on diet and then have to pay salaries to my support staff including trainer and physio.
“It has become very difficult for me to sustain the training,” she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Difficult to sustain
“I spent most of the cash incentives which the Odisha Government have given to me and with the postponement of the Olympics, it has become even more difficult for me to fund my training,” Dutee explained.
What about salary? “I get only ₹60,000 per month being on the rolls of Odisha Mining Corporation which is obviously not sufficient in these times,” she said.
“Definitely, I can understand these are challenging times for anyone to extend financial assistance.
But being an athlete aiming to win an Olympic medal, I just cannot afford to sit back and watch in disappointment with the way things are unfolding around me,” says the athlete, the only Indian to win a 2019 Universiade gold in sprints .
Biggest jolt
“For me, postponement of the Olympics is the biggest jolt as I was preparing with all seriousness and intensity.
“The lockdown because of COVID-19 virus has put all my planning in jeopardy and I am desperately hoping for a turn-around in the fortunes to be back on track at the earliest,” she said.