Athletics Federation of India confirm Dutee Chand's selection for World Championships

Sprinter Dutee Chand has been confirmed to be a part of the Indian team at the IAAF world championships in Doha by the AFI on Thursday. After Chand had announced on Twitter on Tuesday that she is a part of the 25-member travelling Indian squad, the development was confirmed by the AFI Twitter only on Thursday.

“Participation of @DuteeChand is confirmed yesterday late evening by AFI to IAAF in Women's 100m #DohaWorldChampionships #doha2019” read the AFI tweet. The Indian federation further stated that they received the confirmation only on Wednesday. “The IAAF sent an invite, saying Dutee can compete in the World Championships and the AFI has accepted it. So, her participation is confirmed,” an AFI source informed Sportstar.

After becoming only the second Indian sprinter to win gold in a global event at the World Universiade 2019 in Napoli, Chand was not included in India’s 25-member squad which was announced on Monday as the AFI was waiting for confirmation from the international body. Her selection was delayed because she did not meet the qualification mark of 11.24s but found herself within the required number of competitors for the event.

The selection committee had also approved the names of Archana Suseentran (200m women) and Tejaswin Shankar (high jumper), subject to an invitation from the IAAF. Tejaswin pulled out, informing the Federation that he was not in a “jumping shape” while Archana did not get an invite from the IAAF. “We did not get any invite from the IAAF regarding Archana,” the source reported.