India sprinter Chand rues inability to travel to Germany in bid to qualify for World C'ships due to technical problems
Dutee Chand
New Delhi: India's fastest woman Dutee Chand on Tuesday expressed regret for not being able to travel to Germany to participate in a couple of races in her bid to qualify for the World Athletics Championships due to some "technical problems".
The athlete had last week requested the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to help her get visa so that she could participate in a couple of competitions, and was subsequently granted the same after government intervention. However, on Tuesday, Dutee said despite all help from the government, she failed to make it to the races. "I'm unable to go to Germany because of some technical problems at the organisational level. I'm really sad for this. The Government of India is fully aware of this unexpected error and has extended full support to me. I'm really grateful to the Government of India. Thank you," Dutee tweeted in Oriya.
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The 23-year-old, who recently became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to clinch a gold medal in the World University Games, was slated to compete in 100m dash in two IAAF-approved races -- one in Ireland on August 13 and another in Germany on August 19. Dutee is currently a student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar. The World Championships qualifying timing is 11.24 seconds and the 2020 Olympic Games cut-off is 11.15. She ran her personal best and achieved a national record time of 11.26 seconds in Doha in April during the Asian Championships.
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