Dutee Chand is the first female sprinter in 36 years to qualify for the Olympics from India and has left for Rio de Janeiro to bring glory to the nation. Chand will be participating in the 100-metre dash and will be only the second Indian woman to reach the stage after PT Usha in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
To make the cut for Rio 2016, Dutee had to beat the time of 11.32 seconds which was a fair distance above the standing 16-year-old national record of 11.38 seconds held by Rachita Mistry. After missing the mark by one-hundredth of a second in the last week of April, the 20-year-old clocked a stunning 11.30 seconds in Kazakhstan, towards the latter part of June, to sail through to this year’s Summer Games - in the process setting the new Indian record in the event.
Also Read: Dutee Chand: 10 things you need to know about her
On Wednesday night, before leaving, India’s fastest woman shared her thoughts on the upcoming challenge on Twitter. In response, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), as well as public figures like Sanjay Nirupam and Raveena Tandon came forward to convey their best wishes to the Rio-bound athlete.
