"Technical problems" force Dutee Chand to miss Europe trip

Dutee Chand's trip to Europe, where she was to participate in a couple of races to boost her chances of qualifying for the World Athletics Championships, has been cancelled due to “technical problems“.

The 23-year-old, who recently became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to clinch a gold medal in the World University Games, was slated to compete in two IAAF approved 100m races -- one in Ireland on August 13 and another in Germany on August 19.

Dutee, who is India's fastest woman, had last week requested External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to help her obtain a visa and was subsequently granted the same after government intervention. However, on Wednesday, Dutee said that despite help from the government, she wasn't going to be able make it to Germany.

“I’m unable to go to Germany because of some technical problems at the organisational level. I’m really sad for this. The Government of India is fully aware of this unexpected error and has extended full support to me. I’m really grateful to the Government of India. Thank you,” Dutee posted on Twitter, in Oriya.

The World Championships qualifying timing is 11.24 seconds and the 2020 Olympic Games cut-off is 11.15. She ran her personal best and achieved a national record time of 11.26 seconds in Doha in April during the Asian Championships.