Mumbai: Woman sprinter Dutee Chand has finally made the cut to compete in the Rio Olympics to be held in August. Dutee clocked 11:30 seconds to rewrite the national record in a 100 metres event in Kazakhstan on Saturday. By dint of this performance the athlete earned a ticket to compete on the highest platform.
It was indeed a sigh of relief for the Odisha based sprinter who earlier missed the Olympic mark by a whisker of 0.01 seconds in the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship 2016 staged in New Delhi in April.
Being the fastest woman in the sub-continent, all eyes were on Dutee since months as many expected her to compete in the Olympics, but she needed a clearance from the Court of Arbitration (CAS) following IAAF ruling of banning her. The Lausanne-based court suspended the IAAF regulations regarding hyperandrogenism, a condition which produces high testosterone levels, for two years.
“I am really happy at the moment…It has been a tough year for me and I am so happy that my coach … and my hard work has paid off. I would like to thank all the people in India who were praying for me to qualify. Your wishes have paid off,” she was quoted saying in a statement by international news agency Reuters.
On Saturday, Dutee broke the 16-year-old national record in 100 metres set by Rachita Mistry (11.38 seconds). The cut off for qualifying for the Rio Olympics was 11.32 seconds while she achieved by 0.01 seconds.