Ace sprinter Dutee Chand has broken her own national record in women’s 100m race and qualified for the semi-finals of the event at ongoing the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha on Sunday. She timed 11.28 seconds to surpass her previous national record of 11.29 seconds, which she had set at the Inter-State meet in Guwahati last year. Meanwhile, Hima Das failed to finish the women's 400m semifinal due to back pain recurred during her 400m heats.
Dutee's new 100m mark
“My timing was good and I also created a new national record. I just want people to pray for me and I will do well in the finals and win the gold medal,” an elated Dutee can be seen saying in a video posted by Athletics Federation Of India, after her race. She was also the fastest qualifier for the semi-finals.
Hima, the junior World Champion and Asian Games silver medalist, was suffering from severe back cramp and left her race incomplete at the 200m point.
Hima will be running the 4x400m relays next.
On the other hand, MR Poovamma qualified for the 400m final after finishing second in the heat, while Salwa Naser of Bahrain emerged on top. Poovamma qualified for the final with a timing of 52.46 seconds.
My timing was good and I also created a new national record. I just want people to pray for me and I will do well in the finals and win the gold medal, - Dutee Chand
Dutee's Career Highlights
- Dutee won twin gold medals at the 2014 Asian Junior Athletics Championships.
- The Odisha sprinter became the first Indian woman athlete in 36 years to qualify for the 100m event in the Olympics after PT Usha competed in the 100m and 200m at the 1980 Moscow Games.
- India’s ace woman sprinter qualified after clocking a record time of 11.30 seconds at the XXVI International Meeting G.Kosanov Memorial in Kazakhstan in June, in the women’s 100m race. With that, she also managed to better her own national record.
- This 20-year-old runner led the women’s relay team, which smashed the 18-year-old national record with their sprint at IAAF World Challenge in Beijing. They made it to the 4th position in the competition and that gave them the ticket to Rio. The last time an Indian relay team reached an Olympic final was 12 years ago in Athens.
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The Odisha sprinter became the first Indian woman athlete in 36 years to qualify for the 100m event in the Olympics after PT Usha competed in the 100m and 200m at the 1980 Moscow Games.
Controversy
Chand faced a fair share of controversy as well. Dutee Chand had been banned for a considerable amount of time from competing in events (including the Glasgow Commonwealth Games) in 2014, after a controversial hormone test revealed excessive amounts of androgens (a condition known as hyperandrogenism).
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Meanwhile, she challenged the hyperandrogenism verdict in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and in a landmark legal verdict, on July 25, 2015, the ruling was overturned and since then she has gone from strength to strength. Post the ban, she continued her training at Gopichand Badminton Academy.
Going Strong
In the latest, the 22-year-old broke her 100m national record to become the fastest woman on the final day of the 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships. She also clinched the gold in the final, becoming one of the crucial gold medal contenders for the ongoing Asian Athletics Championships.
Congratulations Dutee!
Feature Image Credit: NDTV
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