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Dutee Chand nominated for Khel Ratna by Odisha government
Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has been nominated by the Odisha government for the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has been nominated by the Odisha government for the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Apart from Dutee, the Odisha government also sent five other recommendations to the sports ministry, said an official here.
"I'm thankful to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik for nominating my name for the Khel Ratna Award. May your blessing always be upon me," Dutee said on Twitter.
Dutee Chand clocked 11.7 seconds during the India Grand Prix 4 last week in Patiala and broke her own national record. However, she missed the automatic Tokyo Olympic qualification mark by 0.02 seconds. But that isn't going to cause her any problems as she has made the cut on the basis of world rankings.
Chand, who is now 25 years old, was conferred with the Arjuna Award last year after winning a silver medal each in the 100m and 200m events at the 2018 Asian Games.
The Sports and Youth Services Department of Odisha government has also nominated Olympic-bound Indian hockey vice-captain Birendra Lakra (Arjuna Award), hockey coach Kalu Charan Choudhury (Dronacharya) and former sprinter and Olympian Anuradha Biswal (Dhyan Chand) for National Sports Awards.
The state government also nominated KIIT Deemed University and Odisha Mining Corporation for Rashtriya Khel Prostahan Puraskar for identifying and nurturing budding talents in the region.
