Ace sprinter Dutee Chand on Saturday became the first Indian female athlete to qualify for the 100m dash in Olympics in 36 years as she booked a Rio Games berth at the 26th G Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
20-year-old Dutee clocked 11.30 seconds in the women's 100m heats and then ran an even better 11.24 seconds in the finals to win a silver medal in the Kazakhstan Meet too book the Rio Olympics ticket.
In the process, Dutee bettered her own national record of 11.33secs which she set at Federation Cup National Championships here in April.
The qualifying mark for the Rio Olympics was set at 11.32 seconds.
Dutee is the first Indian woman to have qualified for 100 metres race in an Olympics after legendary PT Usha competed in the blue-riband event in the 1980 Moscow Games.
The Odisha athlete is the first Indian woman athlete to make the cut for an Olympics 100m dash since the qualification system was introduced in the event. There was no qualification system when Usha took part in the 1980 Olympics.
Overall, four Indian women have taken part in the 100m dash in the Olympics — Nilima Ghosh and Mary D'Souza (1952), Mary leela Rao (1956) and Usha (1980).
Dutee is the 20th Indian track and field athlete to have qualified for Rio Games.
For Dutee, it is a remarkable achievement to qualify for Olympics as she had to fight her way back to an international career by winning a landmark 'gender' case last year.
She was banned mid 2014 and dropped from the Commonwealth Games as she was found to have a higher level of testosterone (male hormone) than was permissible in a woman athlete, according to the IAAF hyperandrogenism rules.
Dutee lost an entire year of training and competition but faced the turmoil bravely and fought the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland. In July last year, in a historic verdict, the CAS partially upheld her appeal and allowed her to resume her career.
"I am really happy to have qualified for the Olympics. It has been a tough year for me. My hard work and that of my coach (N Ramesh) has paid off," Dutee said after booking the Rio berth.
"I could qualify for the Olympics due to blessings of a lot of people. I want to thank Sports Authority of India, Sports Ministry, Athletics Federation of India for their support. I will continue to work hard and hope to bring a medal for the country," she added.
Patnaik congratulates Dutee
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday congratulated sprinter Dutee Chand for having qualified for Rio Olympics and said that the people of the state wished her all success in the forthcoming Games.
Describing Dutee's Olympics qualification a historic achievement that brought glory for Odisha, Patnaik wished victory for her in Rio, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.
Odisha Athletic Association Secretary Asirbad Behera congratulated Dutee and announced Rs 50,000 for her.
Joyed over her feat, Dutee told an Odia television channel that her success was the result of 14 years of hard work. She said the support of her family played a key role in her achievement.
She is the first athlete from Odisha to have qualified for Olympics in an individual event.