Bhubaneswar: Sprinter Dutee Chand had to settle for silver in the women’s 200m at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old athlete bagged her second silver at the games, clocking 23.20 seconds. She finished behind Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong, who clinched the gold in 22.96 seconds. The bronze went to China’s Wei Yongli (23.27).
Interestingly, same three sprinters had finished first, second and third in the 100m event as well.
In the semi-final of 200m, Dutee had fared better and finished first clocking 23 seconds.
She had qualified for this 200-metre sprint event during the 58thNational Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship in Guwahati in June this year, where she had won the silver medal clocking 23.41 seconds.
The promising star from Odisha became the second fastest woman in Asia after winning the silver in the 100-metre sprint in 11.32 seconds, missing the gold by 0.02 seconds, on Sunday night.
With her splendid achievement, Dutee has become the first woman sprinter from Odisha to have won two medals in her debut appearance in a single Asian Games and the second in the country after PT Usha who had won the silver in 100-metre and gold in the 200-metre sprint in 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.
“I tried my best to come on the top in the final. But my body could not cope properly as I had put in extra effort in the semi-final. Still then, I am happy with my performance. This was my first participation in the Asian Games. I will keep my body in the proper shape for the next Asian Games and the forthcoming international events,” Dutee told mediapersons soon after the event.
Meanwhile, wishes have started pouring in for Dutee from all quarters across the country.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal, Sports and Youth Affairs minister Chandra Sarathi Behera and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan have congratulated the athlete for her stellar performance in Asian Games.
The Chief Minister also spoke to Dutee over telephone and congratulated her for her outstanding performance.
