Dutee Chand aims to better personal best to secure Olympics berth

Indian sprinting star, Dutee Chand is gunning to make an appearance at her second-consecutive Olympic Games this year at the qualifying events in February.

Dutee Chand, who set a personal best of 11.22 seconds in the 100m at the National Open Athletics Championships last year breaking her own national record in the process, will have to better the feat if she wants to run again at the Olympics this time.

The cut-off time for Tokyo 2020 in the women’s 100m is 11.15 seconds, which means that the 23-year-old will have to run at least 0.07 seconds faster than her current best and she is training with that aim in mind.

“I haven’t qualified for the Olympics yet. I have to attain the qualification mark of 11.15 seconds. I’ll get a chance to qualify for the Olympics in competitions which will be held in February,” Dutee Chand told the Press Trust of India.

The runner will also be participating in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India University Games for the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), which will begin in Bhubaneshwar on February 22 and she lauded the initiative.

“The Khelo India University Games is a great way to unearth talent in this country. People study and play sports side by side. So, most of the talent exists in schools and universities,” she said.

A star in the making

Dutee Chand’s talent has never been in doubt. She first came to the limelight in 2013 when she made it to the World Youth Championships final, becoming the first Indian to do so.

Her career though stalled in 2014 as she was forced off the track due to having naturally high levels of testosterone.

However, following an appeal, Chand was allowd to run again and made a sparkling comeback by qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

She also won two silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games and will be hoping to add to those laurels if she does qualify for Tokyo 2020.