Dutee Chand aims to rectify her flaws ahead of Olympics qualifiers
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Dutee Chand has stated that as every second is important in sprints, she has set the aim of rectifying the flaws that she has while running. The Odisha athlete has further added that she was informed about her flaws by a coach from the Florida Academy who visited the sprinter in Hyderabad.
Chand is keeping her focus for the upcoming qualifying events of the 2020 Olympics to be played in Tokyo. After the recent success at the Indian Grand Prix Athletics, Chand is making efforts to rectify her flaws while running. She has informed that she met Lauren, a coach from the Florida Academy in Hyderabad and was made aware of her mistakes while running.
"I realised that during my take-off, my body was leaning a bit more than required which hampered my speed considerably. Similarly, during the last 20m of my finish, I was experiencing stiffness which was kind of pulling me back. It affected both my start and finish. Since every second
"The coach also suggested that I should go for short sprints and jog for only about 500m or maximum one km, rather than going for those long 3-4km runs. All these changes have strengthened my technique.”
As the Sports Authority of India (SAI) continues to focus on sportspersons who have a chance to win a medal in Tokyo with the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme, Chand remains out of this. She is yet to receive the total amount of the cash award of Rs 3 crore which was announced by the Odisha government after her two medals at the Asian Games in 2018.
"I have approached the sports minister with a request to help me get into the TOP. I have even written to the SAI director general on a couple of occasions. Till date, there have only been assurances but I am hopeful of some relief," the Odisha athlete said.
