Khelo India University Games 2020: Dutee Chand bags 100 metres gold in dominating performance

What's the story?

India's sprint queen Dutee Chand has bagged the 100m Gold at the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2020. It was a dominating performance by her as she totally annihilated the rest of the field.

In case you didn't know

The Khelo India University Games are being staged in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 22nd February to 1st March. Athletes from more than 100 institutes from across the country are participating in these Games. A total of 17 sports are included in these Games but athletics is the showpiece event with the presence of stars like Dutee Chand.

Dutee is participating in both the women's 100 m and 200 m events at these Games. Her intention was to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by attaining the qualifying standards for both the sprints at the KIUG.

The heart of the matter

Dutee Chand is representing her university, the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, at the inaugural Khelo India University Games being staged in her home university in Bhubaneswar.

Dutee, the star attraction of the athletics event at the KIUG, stormed to victory in the women's 100 m event by clocking a time of 11.49 seconds. The extent of her domination can be gauged by the fact that the next best runner finished half a second behind, which is a huge margin in the 100 m sprint.

Odisha’s favourite star @DuteeChand representing @KIITUniversity sprints to 🥇 in 100m in a university record time of 11.49 secs beating Mangalore University’s Simi’s mark of 11.56 secs. Dhanalaxmi of Mangalore University won 🥈 while Sneha of Mahatma Gandhi University won 🥉. pic.twitter.com/9ZRgtzjsBu

— Khelo India (@kheloindia) February 29, 2020

Dhanalakshmi S from Mangalore University, who clocked 11.99 seconds, bagged the silver medal while Sneha SS from Mahatma Gandhi University clinched the bronze with a timing of 12.08 seconds.

Post the race, Dutee mentioned that she was glad to have won the gold medal and was happy with her performance as well.

"It was really nice to participate at the Khelo India University Games. I have won a gold medal as well. I am really happy with my result"

Considering this was the first race of the year for her, she was happy with the timings and looked forward to improve it going forward.

"This is the first meet for me in 2020. So the start of the year has been good. I will improve by 10-15 seconds in the next tournament. I am feeling very fit at the moment, however, I have to improve my speed now."

Although she could not meet the Olympic qualification standard of 11.15 seconds, she was confident of reaching the target considering the training she has been undergoing.

"My practice is going on really well for me. I am training for six-seven hours every day. My coach has been guiding me well in track and gym workout"

What's next?

Dutee will be participating in the women's 200 m event on 1st March, the final day of the Games. She will be hoping to meet the Olympic qualification standard of 22.80 seconds in this race.

Although Dutee may not have been able to achieve the Olympic qualification timings for the 100 m at the KIUG, it is a bright start to the year for her. Having set a national record of 11.22 seconds at the National Open Athletics Championships last year, she is within touching distance of breaching the Olympic qualification mark.

She would be hoping to meet this standard at the upcoming meets she would be participating in, before the qualification period for the athletics events at the Tokyo Olympics ends on 29th June 2020.