Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand qualified for the upcoming Olympics in the 100m and 200m events thanks to a World Rankings quota.
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Acclaimed Indian sprinter Dutee Chand will compete in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics after qualifying for the women’s 100m and 200m events by World Rankings quota on Wednesday. The World Rankings route provided 22 slots in the 100m and 15 spots in the 200m. Duttee Chand is ranked 44th in the 100m and 51st in the 200m. These ranks were sufficient to secure a spot in the Tokyo Games. She had created a piece of history in the 2016 Rio Olympics when she became the third Indian woman to participate in the women’s 100 metres. Though she did not advance beyond the heats, clocking 11.69 seconds, her qualification drew the attention of the entire nation.
Dutee Chand had earlier finished fourth in the women’s 100m final at the 60th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, missing out on a direct Olympic qualification spot. Dutee set a new national record in the women’s 100m with a time of 11.17 seconds last week at the Indian Grand Prix (IGP) 4 in Patiala. She, however, missed the Olympic qualification time by 0.02 seconds. “NEW NATIONAL RECORD- @DuteeChand women’s 100m sprint 11.17s (Olympic Qualification time 11.15s),” Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had tweeted then.
At that time, Sports Authority of India (SAI) also congratulated Dutee for achieving this feat. “Many congratulations to @DuteeChand for creating a new national record in the women’s 100m with a time of 11.17 seconds at the Indian Grand Prix 4 in Patiala,” SAI media tweeted.
Congratulations @DuteeChand on qualifying for Tokyo Olympics 2020 in 100m and 200m via world rankings.
We wish her the best for #Tokyo2020. ??@afiindia pic.twitter.com/WlbPI5QgSa
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) June 30, 2021
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Dutee Chand was nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honour, on Tuesday. “I’m thankful to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik for nominating my name for the Khel Ratna Award. May your blessing always be upon me,” Dutee said on Twitter.
Elsewhere, Hima Das, who suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday, was unable to secure a place in Tokyo 2020 through the World Rankings quota. Her best time of 22.88s came in the Indian Grand Prix 4 last week, but she fell short of securing direct qualification. Hima missed qualifying for the 200m by 00.08 seconds.
Earlier, discus thrower Seema Punia also booked her place for the upcoming Games. On the final day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships on Tuesday, Seema sealed her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics with a gold medal-winning throw of 63.72 metres. The Olympic qualification for women’s discus throw is 63.50m.
The 37-year-old is the second Indian from discus throw to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after Kamalpreet Kaur. “Seema Poonia earns #Tokyo2020 qualification with an effort of 63.70m (OQ mark 63.50m) in the women discus throw on the last day of Inter-State meet in #Patiala Congrats Seema!” Athletics Federation of India (AFI) tweeted.
