In Kyrgyzstan, Dutee clocked 11.41 in the heats but was marginally slower in the finals — 11.47. (Express photo/Partha Paul)
Dutee Chand was leading the sprint till the 80-metre mark at which point Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Zyabkina caught up with her and eventually won gold on a Saturday evening last month in Almaty.
Despite the loss it was a red-letter day for Chand. She won the silver (11.24 seconds) and also rewrote the national record for the second time in a day. In the morning, during the heats, she had clocked 11.30 and qualified for Rio Olympics at the G Kosanov Memorial meet.
A week earlier in Kyrgyzstan a similar story had unfolded. Dutee and Viktoriya had faced off in the final. Dutee started strongly and was unmatchable till the 60-metre mark before the taller and experienced Viktoriya, who has a bigger stride, pipped her to the post.
If Dutee hopes to reach the semifinals she has set a target of 11.10 seconds — at the Olympics, she will have to will herself not to taper off in the last 40 metres of the 100m.
This crucial phase of the sprint is what Dutee and her coach N Ramesh are focussing on with Olympics round the corner.
“Speed-endurance is a facet which Dutee still needs to work on. Till the 60-metre mark she runs a brilliant race, but from thereon she needs to get stronger. The women who are stronger, more experienced and have bigger strides challenge her in the last 40 metres,” Ramesh, Dutee’s coach said while analysing her recent races.
What happens in such a situation is that Dutee — who stands at 5 foot — in an attempt to find that extra yard of pace when rivals snap at her heels, tends to discard her natural running rhythm.
“If she tries to chase an athlete who is faster in the last 40 metres, her natural running style goes awry and she can even lose speed. The only way she can improve is by building speed-endurance, which will help her remain strong even after 60 meters,” Ramesh adds.
In Kyrgyzstan, Dutee clocked 11.41 in the heats but was marginally slower in the finals — 11.47. This was a result of her trying to outpace Viktoria in the final instead of sticking to her natural running style and rhythm, Ramesh explains.
Best over 60m
Over 60 metres, Dutee is at her best. At the Asian Indoor Championships in February, she set a new meet record (7.28 seconds) in the heats before winning gold in the final.
Dutee admits she has to improve in the closing stages of the 100 metres. “My body and muscles stiffen a bit after the 60-metre mark. My lower back also tightens up a bit and I am not able to sprint at my optimal speed. I have to strengthen my lower back as well as improve my endurance. I don’t have much time before the Olympics but I hope to do the right drills to improve my speed-endurance in consultation with Ramesh sir so that I can be at my best in Rio,” Dutee says.
Precious time was lost as Dutee’s training schedule was affected when she was banned for nearly a year under the international athletics federation’s hyperandrogenism guidelines — which she successfully challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
But there are factors which go in her favour. “She has a high stride frequency and during the race her impact time (period when spikes touch the track) is minimal. So she is almost flying through the air. Moreover, she is like a bullet off the starting block. I think in the first 30 metres, she is maybe one of the fastest in the world. She has the potential to increase her stride length but that can’t happen overnight. She has to get stronger over time,” Ramesh claims.
Drills comprising uphill training, strength training and the right mix of rest and exercise in the run-up to the Games can help Dutee overcome her problem to a certain extent. But with Dutee just 20, the coach believes putting excessive pressure on his ward in her very first Olympics is unwarranted.
Because of the paucity of time, it may be best to allow Dutee’s natural instincts to take over after 60 metres — even if it results in her chasing a stronger runner and risk losing her natural rhythm.
Since initially missing out on qualification by one-hundredth of a second at the Federation Cup in New Delhi in April, Dutee wanted to run in as many international meets as possible. She wanted to compete against the best runners because she believed she can find an extra gear when pushed to the limit. As she puts it: “Achi fighter hai tho mein bhi fight karoongi. Achi fighter hai tho barabar ki ladayi hogi.”
At Rio there won’t be a shortage of ‘fighters’ on the track.
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