Doha: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand’s World Championships campaign ended in disappointment as she clocked 11.48 seconds — one of her worst timings this season — in the women’s 100m heats here on Saturday.
Running in the inside lane in heat number 3, Dutee lagged behind in the final few metres to finish seventh and 37th overall among 47 competitors to crash out of the championships.
Dutee’s timing was in stark contrast with those of the likes of 2012 Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica and last edition silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, who led the heat timings with 10.80 and 10.85 seconds respectively.
This showed how much the Indians are lagging behind as compared to the best in the world. Dutee’s heat was won by reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson (11.14 seconds) of Jamaica.
The timing of the last qualifier for the semifinals was 11.31 seconds and it was well within Dutee’s reach but she could not do it. The first three in each of the six heats and the next six fastest qualify for the semifinals.
On the same tracks in April during the Asian Championships, the 23-year-old Dutee had clocked 11.28 seconds during the heats and 11.26 seconds (national record) in the semifinals.
But on Saturday, she came up with her third worst time of the season, after the 11.51 seconds in February and 11.61 seconds in March in the Federation Cup.
Chepngetich wins
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich powered through brutal heat and humidity to win gold in the women’s marathon on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on a dramatic opening day at the World Athletics Championships in Doha. With around two dozen runners in the 68-strong marathon field falling by the wayside as the sweltering conditions took their toll, Chepngetich dug deep to win the first gold medal of the championships in a time of 2 hours 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The marathon, held on a floodlit course alongside Doha’s waterfront Corniche, had started at 11.59 pm local time on Friday, in a scheduling move designed to protect athletes from the furnace-like daytime heat.
