Dutee Chand showcased her mettle once again as she won her second gold medal at the Khelo India University Games after she convincingly bagged the top honours in the 200m final in Bhubaneshwar on Sunday.
The 24-year-old India’s fastest woman sprinter who is representing Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology bagged the gold medal with a timing of 23.66 seconds.
Meanwhile, Kirti Vijay Bhoite from the University of Mumbai won silver with a timing of 24.98 seconds while Deepali Mahapatra from Utkal University settled for the bronze, clocking 25.19 seconds.
“It feels very good to win the 200m gold. In 100m, it’s difficult to gauge when to run in full throttle and when to relax a little bit, but in 200m, it’s easier to understand when to run in full speed and when to ease out. However, a runner has to exert much more in a 200m race,” Dutee Chand after her victory.
Dutee also highlighted to have more tournaments in India. According to Dutee Chand, more the number of tournaments better the performances will be.
“I think there should be two competitions per month in India. The more competitions take place, the better we will do. Only training will not help, one needs to keep taking part in tournaments as well,” she said.
Earlier, Dutee Chand won 100m dash at Khelo India University Games as she made a mark in a remarkable fashion.
Running in lane 3, Dutee Chand clocked 11.49s to bag the gold medal and thus setting a new Inter-University record.
Dutee Chand was the first one to get off the blocks as she steered her way past second-placed Dhanalakshmi S of Mangalore University, who clocked 11.99s. Representing host KIIT University here, Dutee ran 11.61s in the semifinal previously in the day.
She had set the track ablaze at the National Open in October last year, where she ran 11.22s to set a new national record. It should be noted that she is currently 0.07s away from making it to the Olympics with the qualification mark set at 11.15s.
Dutee Chand said she needed a bigger level of competition in a bid to push herself further. “As you saw, there wasn’t a lot of competition here. To achieve the Olympic cut-off I need to compete against faster athletes who will help me push me further,” she was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
“I am very happy because this is the first time I have begun the year so well. And I hope to shave off at least 0.10 seconds in my upcoming races,” she added.