Odisha Sprinter Dutee Chand Sparkles In Asian Games, Wins Silver In 100m

Bhubaneswar: Ace sprinter Dutee Chand brought laurel for Odisha by winning silver in the women’s 100-metre at the ongoing Asian Games in Jakarta on Sunday evening.

Dutee finished second with a timing of 11.32 seconds.

Earlier in the day, Dutee had qualified for the women’s 100-metre final after finishing third with a timing of 11.43 seconds in the semi-final.

This is the second time that the Odia sprinters have won a medal in the women’s track and field event in the Asian Games. In the 13^th Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998, Rachita Panda had won a bronze medal in the 100-metre sprint clocking 11.41 seconds.

Following her sterling performance, wishes have poured in from various quarters. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, Sports and Youth Affairs minister Chandra Sarathi Behera, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and secretary of the Odisha Athletic Association (OAA) Ashirbad Behera have congratulated Dutee.

Apart from the OAA, which has announced a cash award of Rs 50,000, secretary of Odisha Olympic Association (OOA) AK Alam has also announced Rs 50,000 for Dutee.

The ace sprinter had qualified for the Asian Games after her sterling show in the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Guwahati on June 29 this year where she broke her own national record clocking 11.29 seconds in the semi-finals before winning the final in 11.32 seconds, way ahead of the Jakarta Asian Games qualifying mark of 11.67 seconds.

Dutee was involved in a battle with the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) after she was barred from the Commonwealth Games in 2014 as her testosterone level exceeded the guidelines laid down for female athletes.

However, she challenged IAAF’s hyperandrogenism clause in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which gave its ruling in her favour after declaring the IAAF rules void on July 27, 2015.