File photo of Dutee Chand
Ace sprinter Dutee Chand said on Wednesday that she was well on track to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games because of her world ranking, currently 42nd.
"My world ranking is 42 which is within the stipulated number of 56 sprinters eligible to compete in the women's 100m dash at the Tokyo Olympics.
"There are two ways to qualify for the Olympics. One is through the world ranking system and the other to achieve qualification time set by the World Athletics," the 25-year-old said during a virtual media interaction.
For the Tokyo Olympic Games, World Athletics has set stricter qualification standards in track and field events and June 29 is the deadline to achieve a qualification mark in the respective events.
The Olympic qualification standard in women's 100m is 11.15 seconds while Dutee's personal best is 11.22 seconds.
"I will try to achieve the time of 11.15 seconds in the upcoming Indian Grand Prix IV in Patiala on June 25. In case I miss then I've another chance to achieve the mark at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala starting on June 25," said Dutee, the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games silver medallist in 100m and 200m.
The 100m national record holder is also one of the key members of the women's 4x100m relay squad.
It is hoped that the women's 4x100m relay team will make the cut for the Olympics Games before the deadline of June 29. The Olympics Games start on July 23.
