BHUBANESWAR 06-May-2016
Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand lived upto her reputation as the fastest woman of India, winning the 100 meter gold in the 2nd Indian Grand Prix at NIS, Patiala today. But the Olympic qualification mark (11.32secs) again slipped out of her hand as she clocked 11.37 seconds.
Dutee had missed Rio qualification mark by one hundredth of a second despite creating new National record with a timing of 11.33 secs in the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships last month at Delhi. Her state-mate Srabani Nanda secured the bronze medal, clocking 11.60 secs.
Dutee attributed hectic schedule and hot weather condition as the reasons for her failure to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. ``The competitions within a month allowed little time to regain fitness. Patiala weather was too hot to put up best performance,’’ she said.
However, both Dutee and Srabani have a last chance to attain the Rio qualifying mark at the National Senior Inter-State Athletics Championship, which is scheduled to be held at Hyderabad in Telangana from May 28 to July 2.
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PHOTO: Dutee Chand (Right) and Srabani Nanda after winning gold and bronze medals respectively in the 2nd Indian GP in Patiala on May 6, 2016.
