Star Indian sprinter Dutee Chand on Tuesday said she is determined to further better her 100m national record and achieve the qualification standard of 11.15s for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A fortnight after failing to qualify for the women’s 100m semi-finals at the World Championships, Dutee completed a sprint double at the Nationals, clocking the fastest 200m time by an Indian this year, with a 23.17second burst.
The 23-year-old also shattered the 100m national record with a time of 11.22 seconds during the semi-finals on way to the gold medal in Ranchi.
“It is a matter of micro seconds. In 100m, the timings fluctuate. There are 6-7 months left in our hand for the Olympics. So my focus is entirely to qualify for the Tokyo Games. So I have to work hard to achieve that.
Talking about her feat in the 200m, Dutee said: “I’m also really happy with my performance in 200m, where I scored my personal best of 23.00 in Asian Games and here at the National open, I scored 23.17s. So overall my performance was good.”
Dutee had a disappointing outing at the World Championships where she finished seventh in the heats. She clocked 11.48 seconds, well below her season-best which stands at 11.26s to finish in 37th place overall.
“My preparations for Doha World Championships was very good and that’s why I could do well at the National open. I couldn’t do well at Doha because of the heat there. My body couldn’t adapt to the conditions,” she said.
