Rachita Mistry was the last Indian to win a 100 metres medal at the Asian Games before Dutee Chand raced to claim silver in both the 100m and 200m dash at the ongoing Asiad in Jakarta. Mistry had won a bronze medal at Bangkok in 1998. She spoke about Chand’s development as an athlete and challenges ahead for the 22-year-old.
Dutee Chand ran a fabulous race in the 100 metres final and repeated her performance in the 200 metres as well. That’s six back to back races, including the Heats and the semi-finals where she has run well.
We don’t have to over-analyse Dutee Chand’s performances to understand what’s working for her. The explanations are much simpler than we perceive. It is difficult for anybody, an outsider or perhaps even her coach to say if her technique has remarkably altered.
I don’t think her technique has changed that much. Most of the time, it’s not down to a huge difference in technique at these events. You have to understand that most athletes, who are in the finals have a good understanding of how to run.
What it comes down to at these multi-disciplinary events is how an athlete has been managed up to that point and her speed on that day. Dutee has worked hard in these four years and it reflects in her performance.
For every day of these four years, she would have been looking forward to these Games. The Asian Games is the bread and butter event for them. For Dutee, it would have been no different.
Dutee was fast in her final. She started slowly, but showed blistering pace in the final 20. All coaches break the 100 metres into five different races of 20 and measure timings, trying to understand where a runner could improve and where they run slowly.
The most important thing is to manage her fitness when she is running so many races. Now coaches are better equipped, being former runners themselves. In our days, coaches weren’t necessarily runners, just graduates from the National Institute of Sport and couldn’t possibly fathom the experience of running at that level.
The performance of Indian athletes also depends on their psychological and physical well-being at that particular point. There are factors beyond the runner’s control; someone had a bad experience in the flight, another can’t adapt to the weather, these are conditions an athlete must simply toughen up to overcome.
When I look at this generation, I notice one big change among them. There is no fear. The fear factor that our generation possessed has disappeared. In those days, we used to go abroad and freeze. We didn’t win as many medals in international meets, adding to the feeling.
It happened with me too. At the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in New Delhi, I had a false start in the 100 metres and I was disqualified. My coach, Subhash Mahapatra, told me that if I had a false start in the 200, I could pack my bags and go home. He also told me that it was alright to start slowly, but I had to speed up in the latter half. I won gold.
I am aware that Dutee hasn’t performed as well in international competition as she has domestically, but that is also because an athlete matures with time and so does your body. I peaked at 25, and then retired at 30. We must remember that this is Dutee’s first Asian Games and she will get better.
I see Neeraj Chopra participate in competitions across Europe and improving. Not just collecting gold, but improving his mark. Hima Das just keeps getting better and faster. Dutee must also compete more after the Asian Games. If she wants to participate at the World Championships and the Olympics, she will have to plan accordingly and participate in more international events.
As told to Arka Bhattacharya