In 1980, PT Usha broke all records by being the only Indian woman sprinter to ever get selected for the Olympics in the Moscow games. Thirty six years later, Dutee Chand has broken that exception. After winning the implausible, recording time of 11.30 seconds in the heats at XXVI International Meeting G Kosanov Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan; Chand became the first Indian to qualify for the 100 m event at Rio Olympics taking place later this year.
Coming from a weaver’s family in the village of Chaka Golpalpur, Dutee’s journey to this qualification was not an ordinary one. While preparing for her maiden Commonwealth Games appearance in Glasgow, she was termed unfit to compete as a female athlete after being conditioned with hyperandrogenism. Although she did not lose heart and fought in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland and later won her case in July last year.
After winning the case, Dutee was not only consistent with her daily practices but with her sprint timings as well. She achieved a mark off 11.33 second in Delhi and managed to win an unbelievable 11.51 mark in the meet in Taiwan, where she bagged two medals as well.
Although like any athlete, she had understood the pressure to qualify for the Olympics, which made her tense throughout her practices. “My coach N. Ramesh told me that this meet in Kazakhstan was my last chance to qualify for the Olympics. ‘If you don’t qualify here forget about going to Rio’ is what he told me. Before the morning heats Ramesh sir told me not to think of a medal but just qualifying for the event. Once I was on track, I felt like I would post a good time today. It was a relief when I qualified in the heats,” Dutee explains.
Despite her achieving this milestone, her coach expects even better out of her. He says, “Knowing what all she has gone through over the last two years, it feels like a miracle that Dutee will even be going to Rio. But we won’t be satisfied with that. Our goal is to get her timing in the 11.11-11.20 second range. It won’t be enough for a medal but it should take her to the semifinals. The Olympics is just the start. Dutee is still very young. She has the whole world in front of her now.”
Even though we completely believe that Dutee has the potential to get qualify for the semifinals as well, her real victory, over and above, lies in the struggle she managed to push through--all for one passion.
Feature Image Courtesy: The Indian Express
Words: Karan Kaul