Bhubaneswar; Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday congratulated ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand on her qualifying for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics through her world ranking in both the 100m and 200m.
“I congratulate @DuteeChand on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics through her world ranking in both the 100m and 200m. I’m confident our athletes will give their best at #Tokyo2020 Let’s #Cheer4India,” Rijiju tweeted.
Patnaik wished Dutee the very best for her future endeavours.
Dutee qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in both 100m and 200m races via the World Rankings quota on Wednesday.
Twenty two spots were available in 100m and 15 spots in 200m via the World Rankings route. Dutee’s overall positions of World No. 44 in 100m and World No. 51 in 200m were well within the ranks to make her eligible to fly to Tokyo next month.
Dutee failed in her last race to secure a direct Olympic qualification spot after finishing a disappointing fourth in the women’s 100m final at the 60th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships.
Last week, Dutee scripted a new national record in the women’s 100m with a time of 11.17 seconds in the Indian Grand Prix (IGP) 4 in Patiala, but she missed the Olympic qualification time by just 0.02 seconds.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Sports and Youth Services Department (DSYS), Government of Odisha, recommended Dutee Chand for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.