BHUBANESWAR: It was the third heats for the women's 100m sprint. But to the 10,000-plus crowd that had gathered on Day 1 of the 22nd
Asian Athletics Championships
at
Kalinga Stadium
here on Thursday, it felt like the final, for on lane three of the line-up was
Dutee Chand - the home favourite and the sole Indian in fray for the coveted dash title.
ALSO READ: Manpreet, Lakshmanan strike gold on Day 1While loud cheers greeted the announcement of her name, the stadium fell silent as the athletes took stance for the start. There were, of course, reasons for the nervousness.
It was the first time Dutee was competing after the news of the
International Association of Athletics Federations
(
IAAF
)'s decision to go back to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS), with evidence upholding their stance on hyperandrogenism on July 27. With the news breaking just a couple of days back, everyone was hoping it does not have an adverse impact on her performance at this meet.
(AFP Photo)Then there was a false start. Was it a bad omen? With
Vikas Gowda
on the verge of losing his title and chance for scripting a hat-trick at the same time on the field, the Indian supporters at the venue were jittery.
And then the sprint began and just 20 metres into the race, Dutee had emerged ahead of the pack and made all the speculations and worries surrounding her look unfounded. She won the heats with a timing of 11.40 seconds, leaving behind Kazakh Olga Safronova (11.55) and Moldovia's Afa Ismail (12.80).
"The country has been with me. So I did not let the pressure get to me," an elated Dutee said after the heats. "But this was just the heats. I want to go better in the semifinal and final."
Her timing of 11.40 was still some way off the World Championship cut-off of 11.26 seconds and she has to either reach that mark or clinch the gold in the event to qualify for London. But the diminutive Indian was focussed on her goals. "My aim is to clock 11.20 in this competition. That is what I am concentrating on and working hard to achieve," she said.