Dutee wins Khelo India varsity 100m, second gold medal for Narendra

BHUBANESWAR: India’s fastest woman Dutee Chand clinched the 100m gold while long distance runner Narendra Pratap Singh bagged his second title at the Khelo India University Games here on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Dutee, representing Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), raced ahead to take a massive lead. With her competitors nowhere close, the national record holder bagged gold clocking 11.49 seconds.

Second-placed Dhanalakshmi of Mangalore University, clocked 11.99 seconds and Sneha SS from Mahatma Gandhi University clinched bronze with a timing of 12.08 seconds.

“I was not expecting to go much faster in my first competition after the off-season. I am happy with the timing, though I would have liked a sub 11.40 to begin with,” Dutee said, having clocked 11.61 in the heats in the morning. “This is the first meet for me in 2020. So the start of the year has been good. I will improve in the next meeting. I am feeling very fit at the moment, however, I have to improve my speed now.”

Dutee, who improved her national record with a timing of 11.22 seconds at the National

Open Athletics Championships last year, is chasing 11.15 seconds to secure a ticket to the Olympics in Tokyo.

“The coronavirus and the resulting travel regulations make me unsure if I will get to compete in Europe. I guess I will have to seek the Olympic qualifying time in an Indian competition this season,” Dutee said. In men’s 5000m, Narendra Singh of Mangalore University bagged the gold, his second of the Games, after the 10,000m win. He bettered his 5000m university record in the process. His time of 14:18:19 was almost 10 seconds faster than his teammate Adish, who finished second.