Dutee Chand Puts BMW Car for Sale to Fund Training for Tokyo Olympics 2020; Fans Urge Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to Intervene and Support the Sprinter (See Reactions)

Ace Indian athlete Dutee Chand has put her luxury car on sell to fund her training for the Tokyo Olympics next year. Dutee, India’s 100m national record holder and a two-time Asian Games medallist, shared few pictures of the BMW car on her Facebook page and also wrote that she was willing to sell it to cover the expense of her personal training. “I want to sell my BMW car. If anyone wants to buy, contact me on messenger,” Chand wrote on Facebook alongside the pictures but later deleted them. Ace Indian Athlete Dutee Chand Wants to Sell Car to Meet Training Expenses for Tokyo Olympics.

Dutee, who clinched silver medals in both 100m and 200m at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, has reportedly been facing a shortage of funds due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics by a year owing to the coronavirus pandemic and had already spent the money allocated by the government to train before the pandemic.

"Training is going quite good so far, I have been training here in Bhuvneshwar. Earlier, there was no problem related to funds for training as Tokyo Olympics were coming up and our state government conferred me, but because of coronavirus the Olympics were postponed and I had spent the money which was given to me by the sponsors. Now, I need money for training, I need new sponsors but because of coronavirus I am finding it difficult to find them. Now I have decided to sell my car to arrange funds," Chand told ANI.

She also told reddif.com that it was a difficult decision to sell the car but she must to fund her own training for the Olympics. “It was a difficult decision for me to put up that post… Had there been an Olympics, I would have been all set, but, as the Games have been postponed by a year, I am unable to support myself,” she was quoted as saying.

Chand admitted that she had no cash left. Fans have since urged sports minister Kiren Rijiju to intervene and support the athlete while many have also urged top sportspersons such as Virat Kohli to lend their hand of support.

Dutee Chand Puts Up BMW Car for Sale

Dutee Chand to Sell BMW to Cover Training Expense

Fans Urge Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to Step in and Support

Another Fan Asked Virat Kohli to Offer Help

Chand resumed her training in May and has been training at the Kalinga Stadium. Chand revealed that since there were no ongoing competition nor the promise of one this year, sponsors are hard to be found. “Coronavirus has impacted all of us, when there is no competition, no one is willing to sponsor us, we are all at loss, these are troublesome times," she said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 14, 2020 09:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).