Bhubaneswar: Asian Games double silver medallist Dutee Chand of Odisha has been nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award by the Athletics Federation of India, Tuesday. The state sprint queen won the 100m and 200m silver in Jakarta last year.
In the recently concluded Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Dutee timed her personal best of 11.28 seconds in the heats, breaking her national record of 11.29 seconds, to qualify for the semis.
The 23-year-old again broke her record to clock 11.26 seconds in the semifinals but couldn’t replicate her form in the final finishing fifth. However, she bagged a bronze in the 200m dash.
Apart from Dutee, other track and field athletes to have been nominated for Arjuna are Asian Games gold winners Tejinder Pal Singh Toor (shot put), Arpinder Singh (triple jump), Manjit Singh (800m) and Swapna Barman (heptathlon).
Meanwhile, star javelin thrower and Asian Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra who received the Arjuna award last year has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Khel Ratna Award.
After his gold-winning feat at the Asian Games last year with a national record throw of 88.06m, the AFI has re-nominated him for the Khel Ratna Award for this year.
“Neeraj Chopra has been re-nominated by the AFI this time also. He is the only one recommended for Khel Ratna from athletics,” a top source told this agency.