Bhubaneswar, August 30, 2018: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced additional Rs 1.5 crore cash reward for sprinter Dutee Chand, who clinched silver medal for India in 200 metre sprint in the Asian Games-2018 on Wednesday.
She was earlier awarded Rs 1.5 crore after winning a silver medal in 100 meters event on Monday.
Patnaik also announced all support for the sprinter in her preparations for Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
She crossed the finishing line in 23.20 seconds, behind Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong who clinched the gold in 22.96. The bronze went to China’s Wei Yongli (23.27). It has been an excellent performance by the 22-year-old sprinter who was not allowed to compete in 2014-15 under the IAAF’s hyperandrogenism policy due to which she missed the 2014 Commonwealth and Asian Games.
However, she fought and won a case against this policy at the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
On Wednesday the Chief Minister congratulated Chand for her achievement.
“Congratulate #DuteeChand, our own sprint queen on bringing more glory for #India with a silver medal in 200m sprint, following a silver in 100m. Entire #Odisha & the nation is proud of your silver double at the #AsianGames2018. Well done!,” the CM tweeted.
She clocked 11:32 seconds, a tad below her national record of 11:29 seconds to win the silver medal in 100 meters event. It was India’s first medal in 20 years in this event. Bahrain athlete Odiong Edidiong won gold in 11:30 seconds while Wei Yongli of China settled for bronze in 11:33 seconds.
