At Rio 2016: Three women sprinters to watch out for

“Dutee Chand and Lalita Babar's roads to Rio is inspiring, in addition to all the other women who have powered their way to Brazil on the Track and Field have proved that Indian athletics has the potential to threaten the best despite the lack of support,” this is what Suhail Chandhok, former domestic cricket player and now a commentator for both the men’s and women’s hockey competitions at Rio said to SheThePeople.TV.  Adding one more to his list, here are three that one should definitely look out for this Olympics:

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Dutee Chand: Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand became the first Indian woman athlete in 36 years to qualify for the 100m event in the Olympics, after PT Usha competed in the 100m and 200m at the 1980 Moscow Games. India's ace woman sprinter qualified after clocking a record time of 11.30 seconds at the XXVI International Meeting G.Kosanov Memorial in Kazakhstan in June by clocking 11.30 seconds in the women’s 100m race. With that, she also managed to better her own national record.

This 20-year-old runner led the women’s relay team which smashed the 18 year old national record with their sprint at IAAF World Challenge in Beijing, making it to the 4th position in the competition.

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Srbani Nanda: 25-year-old Srabani Nanda clocked 23.07 seconds at the G Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty 2016 which gave her the ticket to Rio in the 200 metres women’s event. A very consistent performer in the recent times, Srbani  specialises in the 200 metres as well as the 100 metres category. A gold and silver medalist in 200 and 100 metre sprint respectively at the 2016 South Asian Games, Srbani came into spotlight when she clinched Bronze medal in women’s 4×100 metre relay event of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Making the Olympic cut: Sribani Nanda( Picture Credit: indiatoday.in)

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Lalita Babar: The long distance runner will be competing in the 300 m steeplechase event at Rio. Babar, who finished eighth in the women’s 10,000m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, was awarded the Sports Person of the Year in 2015. She secured a bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games, 2014 and became the Asian champion. She is the first Indian woman to ever qualify for the World Championship final in August 2015 in Beijing. Also, she clocked her personal best in the marathon, 2:38.21s in Mumbai in January this year

Lalita Babar, competing in the 3000m steeplechase at Rio ( Picture Credit: indainexpress.com)

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Feature Image Credit: Ndtv