5 Inspiring Young Sports Personalities of India


Being the second most populous country in the world, it’s demeaning to accept the fact that India is yet to prove its dominance in the World Sports Arena. Legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Mary Kom, Vishwanathan Anand, Milkha Singh have enscripted their names on the wall of fame in their respective sport, but India needs to step up. But what pulls the country back? It is the perception that sports spoil the future of the kids, which is changing now. Moreover, encouragement and lack of self-belief also are the deciding factors.

As a developing country, Indian sport personalities at their young age didn’t get the attention they wanted during their childhood. But still, India’s past and current sports stars achieved their glory after going through tough circumstances, where most of the legends like P.T Usha, M.S Dhoni, Dhanraj Pillay started from very humble origins. Let us look at some of the ‘Rising Stars’ of the Indian Sport industry who mounted their way up from misfortune and chaos to accomplish fame in their young age.

Dutee Chand (Athlete)



Eating three times a day was simply out of the picture for Dutee Chand’s family as vegetables and rice was the only meal they could afford. Dutee was born to a weaver couple and she had no track, no facilities or no playground to train. She claims that she ran across river banks, life boulders as part of her training regime. After her successful stint at National Institute of Sports in Patiala, where her expenses were dealt by the coach, Nagapuri Ramesh, Dutee won several medals at Youth and Senior Nationals in record times.

But fate has something else in stock for her. She faced another blow when IAAF’s law on ‘hyperandrogenism’ ruled her out to compete as a female athlete, i.e. her body produces male hormones in excess. Later, she was allowed to run the 100 and 200 metres as IAAF brought in regulations limiting testosterone levels of female athletes competing over distances between 400m and 1600m. In May 2019, Dutee became the first Indian sports star to acknowledge she was in a same-sex relationship. Remarkably, now she’s on the cover of the digital edition of Cosmopolitan, a fashion magazine for the July edition.

Achievements: Silver Medal in 100m, 200m – 2018 Asian Games, National Record Holder in 100m (11.24sec)