Dutee Chand, Anas eliminated in first round heats

NEW DELHI: It was an opportunity for Dutee Chand, India’s national record holder in women’s 100m, to showcase her talent at the World Athletics Championships in London.

However, the sprinter failed to impress, bowing out in the first round with a timing of 12.07 seconds. It was her slowest this season. She ran in the fifth of the six heats, finishing sixth.

The Odisha sprinter has been fighting a ‘gender case’ against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)’s hyperandrogenism policy at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). She got an invitation from the world governing body to compete in the global event on the basis of the 11.30 secs she clocked in May at the Indian Grand Prix at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The qualifying time in 100m though, was 11.26 secs.

After the July 6-9 Asian Athletics Championships, where she won bronze in 100m, Dutee had taken a short break. Unexpectedly, she received an IAAF invitation on July 29 and flew to London on July 31.

“The experience of racing against top athletes always helps irrespective of the result,” said her coach N Ramesh from Hyderabad.

Dutee’s next destination will be the World University Games that begin on August 19 in Taiwan. “Since she is a student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KITT) University, she is eligible to compete in the university games,” the coach added.