In a disappointing development for the sports fans across the country, ace sprinter of Odisha Dutee Chand failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women's 200m event in Tokyo Olympics on Monday.
Running in heat 4 at the track two of the Olympic Stadium, Dutee finished with her season's best timing of 23.85 seconds, but it was not good enough to qualify her for the semifinals as she finished a distant seventh. She was nowhere near her personal best of 23.00 seconds.
USA’s Gabrielle Thomas clocked 21.61 seconds to win the Heat 4. Namibia’s Christine Mboma was second with 22.67 seconds, while Brazil’s Cristina Vitoria Rosa finished third.
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The first three in each heat qualify for the semifinals and the next three fastest (all seven heats combined) also advanced to the last four.
A couple of days ago, Dutee was also out of contention for the 100 m sprint. She was nowhere near her best as she clocked 11.54 seconds, well outside her national record of 11.17 seconds to finish seventh in heat five and 45th overall out of 54 competitors.
Ivory Coast's Marie-Josee Ta Lou won the Heat with a time of 10.78, setting a new African record. Jamaican sprinters Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce finished second and third respectively. In total, 24 athletes qualified for the semis.
The 25-year-old had qualified for Tokyo Olympics on the basis of World Rankings after being unable to breach the automatic qualification mark of 11.15 seconds.