Sprint queen Dutee Chand secures Rio berth against all odds

Almaty, Kazakhstan : In a gripping tale of resilience and unmeasured strength, ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand overcame all sorts of ordeals to secure her berth for the upcoming Rio Olympics in the women’s 100 metres category.
The 20-year-old, hailing from Jajpur district in Odisha, clocked 11.30 seconds in women’s 100m qualification meet here at the XXVI International Meeting G.Kosanov on Saturday. With her latest timing, she has finally succeeded in clearing the Olympic qualification mark of 11.32.
Dutee had earlier missed the Rio Olympics qualification norm of 11.32secs by one-hundredth of a second at the 100 meter event of Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship held in New Delhi in April.
She couldn’t earn an Olympic quota despite breaking previous holder Rachita Mistry’s 16-year-old national record of 11.38 secs. Dutee was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2014 after failing a hormone test. However, the sprinter won the right to race again in a landmark ruling questioning the validity of so-called gender tests around naturally high testosterone levels in female athletes.