Watch: Sprinter Dutee Chand Becomes First Indian Woman Track Athlete To Secures Gold In World Universiade

Indian Sprinter Dutee Chand continued her form and went to clinch gold at the 100m in the World Universiade in Napoli, Italy, and become the first Indian woman track and field athlete to win in the World University Games, the Times of India reports.

The 23-year-old Dutee clocked 11.32 seconds and led the race from start to finish to win the gold.

The silver and bronze were won by Switzerland’s Del Ponte (11.33) and Germany’s Lisa KwaYie (11.39) in the finals of the women’s 100m dash held on Tuesday (9 July). Chand is now the second Indian sprinter to win the top medal at a global event. Earlier, Hima Das clinched gold in 400m in the World Junior Athletics Championships.

The Asian Games silver medalist is also the second Indian track and field athlete to win a gold in the games for Universities around the world, after Inderjeet Singh. Dutee studies at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Govind and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju were among the many who congratulated the 23-year-old athlete.

PM Modi Tweeted: “Exceptional achievement of an exceptional athlete! Congratulations @DuteeChand for winning a hard-earned and well-deserved Gold in the Women’s 100 m finals.”