Rio-bound Odisha sprinter Dutee resumes journey after stopover at Abu Dhabi

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 4:

Odisha’s medal hope Dutee Chand today boarded the plane for Rio de Janeiro to participate in the Olympic games beginning tomorrow after a stopover at Abu Dhabi.

The ace sprinter had left for Brazil via Abu Dhabi from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad last night.

The 20-year-old tweeted about his departure from the Abu Dhabi International Airport today.

Directly from #Abudhabi Airport. The last stop before @Rio2016_en @IndianOlympians #DuteeChand pic.twitter.com/24re1xaKiI

— Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand) August 4, 2016

Wishes poured in on the micro-blogging site after the fastest Indian runner tweeted: “All set for Rio. Flying from Hyd Airport now.”

All set for Rio. Flying from Hyd Airport now. Keep praying my country men. Don't know abt medals.I wil give my best. pic.twitter.com/maNiRXrTza

— Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand) August 3, 2016

It was a bumpy ride for the road to Olympics for the athlete hailing from a weaver’s family in Gopalpur. She fought a battle over hyperandrogenism at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Switzerland. The sports body cleared the athlete in July last year and allowed her to compete in all international events. Since then, there was no looking back for her.

She will be participating in the 100 m event at Rio. Dutee became the first woman to represent India in the particular event in 36 years. She qualified for the sports’ grandest event after her performance at Almaty, Kazakhstan.

According to reports, Dutee will vie for medal at the 100 m event scheduled to come up on August 12 at 20:25 IST.