BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced additional cash award of Rs 1.5 crore for Odia sprinter Dutee Chand, who bagged silver in women’s 200 metre at the Jakarta Asian Games.The chief minister, who spoke to Dutee over phone after her latest feat, also announced that the state government would bear expenses for her preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a decision which is widely appreciated by the sports fraternity.Naveen also announced Rs 1.5 crore on Monday for the Odisha athlete, after she bagged silver for the country in women’s 100 metre at the Jakarta meet. India last won a medal in the event in 1998.“The chief minister said the entire country is proud of my achievements at the Asian Games. He also assured me of all support from the state government to prepare for future events. I have told him about my preparations for the 2020 Olympics,” Dutee told TOI.Dutee won her second silver at the Asian Games on Wednesday by clocking 23:20 seconds. In both the events, she finished behind Bahrain’s Odiong Edidiong.The Odisha athlete has become the first woman sprinter in the country after PT Usha and Jyotirmoyee Sikdar to have won two medals in the prestigious event. It was Dutee’s first Asian Games.While the legendary Usha had swept four gold medals at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, winning 200 metre, 400 metre, 400 metre hurdles and 4x400 metre relay race, she also bagged silver in 100 metre sprint. Sikdar had also won two medals in 800 metre and 1500 metre at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.Olympian Anuradha Biswal hailed the state government’s decision of announcing cash award for Dutee. “Announcement of cash awards immediately for an event was only practiced by states like Haryana and Punjab. I thank our chief minister for announcing such huge cash award for Dutee. It is a moral booster for any athlete and helped her to look for future events,” Biswal said.A specialist in 100 metre hurdle, Anuradha said now there is a positive sign for the potential Odia athletes that the state government has been investing resources on building infrastructure and providing better coaching. “The proposed high-performance academy at Kalinga Stadium is in the right direction,” she said.

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