Jostling for positions with Gil Roberts of the USA and Qatar's Abdalelah Haroun at the 200m mark, Muhammed Anas for that hundredth of a second gave a momentary thrill of watching an Indian athlete take on the world's best
Dutee Chand and Muhammed Anas
Jostling for positions with Gil Roberts of the USA and Qatar's Abdalelah Haroun at the 200m mark, Muhammed Anas for that hundredth of a second gave a momentary thrill of watching an Indian athlete take on the world's best. But that was as good as it gets.
As Gil pulled away, Jamaica's Nathon Allen powered his way to the finish line A few seconds later the board lit up with the result showing clearly that the Indian 400m runner had finished below his best at 45.98.
In the Asian Athletic Championships in Bhubaneswar, where he had picked up the gold, Anas had timed 45.77. In qualifying for the World Championships, Anas had timed 45.32, in the process shattering the national record. Running the same time would have qualified the Indian for the semi-finals. He later said, "I will do my best in the 4x400 relay." Anas finished 33rd out of 49 competitors.
Meanwhile, Dutee Chand came onto the track as a drizzle intensified. She appeared rattled. A bad start made it worse and a time of 12.07 probably embarrassed her. Her best of 11.24 or even an 11.30 would have seen her become the first Indian woman to enter the 100m semis. But she finished 38th out of 46 competitors.
Speaking on the conditions, Dutee said, "We do speak about the weather. But it's not easy to train in a particular condition and then suddenly start running in a different environment. Yes, I could have done better. But I am happy to get a chance to run before so many fans."
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