Dutee Chand Makes an Excellent Comeback with Gold in National Open Athletic Championship

She fought against a rule that stopped her from participating in the sport that she loves. Today, Dutee Chand is back. And she is back in style. 

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand made an excellent comeback in the 55th National Open Athletic Championship by winning gold in the 100-metre sprint on Thursday.

While she did not start off well in the beginning, she gave her best performance in the last few metres and ran past Srabani Nanda, who stood second.

Source: Twitter

She clocked 11.68 seconds, while Nanda crossed the finish line at 11.70 seconds. Dutee could not, however, achieve the Olympic qualifying mark of 11.32 seconds.

On July 18 last year, Dutee Chand was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) after she was tested for hyperandrogenism – a condition because of which her body produces testosterone at levels which were considered higher than the limits for women sportspersons. Her name was removed from the team for Commonwealth Games. After this, the sprinter decided to challenge the IAAF regulation which governs females with hyperandrogenism. She went to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and in a historic judgement in July this year, CAS suspended the regulation which made it ineligible for athletes with hyperandrogenism to complete in the female category.

So she is back now. And she is back in style.

19-year-old Dutee who hails from Chaka Gopalpur village in Odisha, dedicated this win to the sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal. “He has done a lot for me when I was in a crisis situation,” she said.

Dutee is currently undergoing training at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and Nagpuri Ramesh is her coach.

“I am happy that my practice has helped me achieve the desired result here. I have been training really hard, three times a day so that I can put in my best efforts,” Dutee said, adding that this was not her best effort and she is looking forward to the next event where she will get a chance to perform better.

We wish her all the very best for the upcoming events.

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