Dutee Chand's Olympic hopes hang by a thread

Patiala: Star sprinter Dutee Chand's hopes of cracking Tokyo Olympic qualification time of 11.15 seconds in the women's 100 metres final at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships on Saturday may get dashed after she strained her left quadriceps muscles in the morning session. "It was a bad day for me on Saturday morning as I strained my left quadriceps muscles during the women's 100m heats. I've taken medicine as well as treatment from physio. My leg injury should be fine. I should be able to run a fast time in the final in the evening," the 25-year-old 2018 Jakarta Asian Games silver-medallist in 100m/200m told IANS.

On Monday, at the Indian Grand Prix IV, Dutee had clocked 11.17 seconds in women's 100m final. It was a national record and better than her previous record of 11.22 secs clocked in 2019 in Ranchi.

Dutee says she went all out during women's 4x100m relay heats on Friday and wasn't able to fully recover for Saturday morning's 100m heats.

"I clocked 11.76 seconds to win my heats. I took it easy in the preliminary round in the morning session as the main focus is the final which is in the evening," she added. To prepare for the evening 100m final, Dutee said she has taken medicine and got treatment from her physio.

"I'm feeling better. Hope the stiffness will vanish by evening. Will do a good warm-up for the evening session. I will see how my injured leg reacts and will plan the final race accordingly," she added. (IANS)