Goal is to do well at world level, says Dutee Chand

Dutee Chand believes her inclusion in the India squad for the World Athletic Championships in Doha is a massive opportunity for her. In spite of not making the qualification mark of 11.24s, IAAF picked her on the basis of her World ranking in 100 metres.

Hoping to make the most of this chance, Dutee says, “The goal right now is to do really well at the world level. Although I have won a silver medal at the Asian Games and gold at World University Games, I hope to achieve my personal best timing and reach the final.”

She emphasised that qualifying for Tokyo is the biggest goal as the Olympic Games are less than a year away. The qualifying standards for Tokyo is 11.15 in 100 metres. “Nobody has been able to achieve that timing from India and I haven’t done that either in the past but I am working hard for it and hope to do it,” the current World No. 53 told Sportstar.

Special training

Dutee is training under her coach Ramesh to increase her fitness levels. Special preparation means beginning training late in the evening as Doha will stage the race late at night, “The event will start at 11:30 in Doha and Indians are usually sleeping at that time. But I have started training from 8 p.m. to let the body get used to the late night schedule,” said Dutee at an event, organised by Sheros, to highlight the health and fitness demands of modern sportswomen.

Dutee is following a strict regimen of how to train in different weather conditions, special diet, injury prevention and fitness. She is training in Odisha these days and hopes to run at her best. The World Championships will start from September 27.

To achieve her dream of representing India in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she says she needs the required funds to train abroad to improve her performance as she is not in any of the government schemes such as Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).” I have given my budget to the State government and if they provide us with the money then I won’t have to worry about the financial issue.”