Dutee Chand creates history with 100m gold in Universiade
Second Indian sprinter to win a gold in a global event after Hima Das
Napoli, Italy: National record holder Dutee Chand became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to clinch a gold medal in the World Universiade after she won the 100-metre dash.
The 23-year-old Dutee clocked 11.32 seconds to win the gold as she led the race from start to finish.
Running at lane No. 4, Dutee was the first one out of the eight athletes to blast off the starting blocks and she made most of it to fend of a late challenge from Del Ponte (11.33) of Switzerland.
Lisa KwaYie of Germany took the bronze in 11.39 seconds in the race run past midnight Indian time on Tuesday.
The Odisha runner, whose national record stands at 11.24 seconds, thus became the first Indian to win a 100-metre gold in a global event.
She has now become only the second Indian sprinter to win a gold in a global event after Hima Das, who clinched the top spot in 400 metres in the World Junior Athletics Championships last year.
Dutee, who had a silver each in 100 and 200 metres in the 2018 Asian Games, is also only the second Indian track and field athlete to win a gold in the World Universiade. Inderjeet Singh had clinched the top spot in men’s shot put event in the 2015 edition.
After winning the race, Dutee, who recently admitted to having a relationship with a girl, tweeted: “Pull me down, I will come back stronger!”
She further added: “With years of hardwork and your blessings, I have yet again broken the record by winning the gold in 100-metre dash in 11.32 seconds at The World University Games, Napoli. In the pictures (picture of all three medal winners), are the winners too, with a heart of gold from Germany and Sweden.