Doha: Odisha sprint queen Dutee Chand claimed her first medal on the concluding day of Asian Athletics Championship as she raced to a bronze in the women’s 200m dash here Wednesday. Dutee timed 23.24 seconds which is also her best timing of the season.
“I am really very happy. I missed out on a medal in the 100m and the relay. I put too much effort in 100m and was not sure of a medal in 200m. I just did my best and I am happy,” Dutee said after her race. Salwa Naser of Bahrain expectedly took the gold in 22.74 seconds while Olga Safronova of Kazakhstan was second in 22.87 seconds.
Though Dutee was happy with her efforts, her season-best timing of 23.24 seconds will not help her make it to the World Championships. Her timing was just 0.001 seconds quicker than the fourth placed runner and her position was confirmed only after it flashed on the giant screen at the Khalifa Stadium.
Meanwhile, PU Chitra clocked 4:14.56 seconds to strike gold for India in the women’s 1500m race. The win also ensured Chitra’s qualification for the World Championships.
“Got a little nervous towards the end being next to the Bahraini runner (Gashaw Tigest). She beat me to third place in the Asian Games. I had to really push hard in the end,” Chitra said after her victory. In the men’s 1500m race, Ajay Kumar Saroj won a silver clocking 3:43.18 seconds.
However, it was not the results they wanted as Kamalpreet Kaur and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon finished fourth and fifth in women’s discus throw. India finished off the day with silver medals in 4x400m men’s and women’s relay respectively. With that India finished off their campaign with 18 medals (3 gold, 8 silver, 7 bronze) , 10 below their 2017 edition count which was held in Bhubaneswar.
