Bhubaneswar, July 31: Dutee Chand and Jauna Murmu won hearts with their performances at the Asian Atheltics Championship here earlier this month. Now, the burden of expectation is set to go a notch higher as they prepare for the World Athletics Championship in London.
Sports enthusiasts of the state will have their eyes firmly trained on London as Dutee and Jauna look to capitalise on their success at the Asian meet and be in the running for a medal.
The duo are the only athletes from the state to qualify for the world championships, which will take place between August 4 and 13. Jauna qualified for the world event in the women's 4x400m relay. Dutee, despite missing the original entry standard of 11.26 seconds, was invited at the last minute from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to take part in the event. She will compete in the women's 100m sprint.
The state government yesterday announced cash incentives of Rs 5 lakh each for the duo.
Dutee took part in five 100m finals to qualify the championships, with her best sprint coming at the third leg of the Indian Grand Prix in May, where she clocked 11.30 seconds. The IAAF invited her after falling short of the target number of 56 athletes for the London event.
Dutee won two bronze medals at the Asian Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium here.
Confident about her performance at the world championships, Dutee said: "I realised after my failure at the Olympic Games that one needs extreme hard work to survive. I have been putting in around eight hours of practice since then."
Endurance and timing are the two things that she is focussed on. "Winning a medal at the championships in my hometown was a huge boost. I feel very lucky that I got the chance to go to London and I hope to give my best," she said.
While Jauna failed to win a medal in the women's 400m hurdles at the Asian championships, she won silver at the National Inter State Championship, clocking 58.68 seconds.
"We have been practising really hard for this. This is a big event and winning medals will help us promote Odisha and the country on an international level," she said.
