Tokyo Olympian SekarDhanalakshmi clocked her personal best time to win 200m gold at the QosanovMemorial Athletics Meet being held in Kazakstan. The Sprinter extraordinaire achieved a creditable sub-23 second timing in the event. Dhanalakshmialso clocked22.89s which is better than her personal best time of 23.14s from last year.
Kazakhstan’s Olga Safronovafinished second (23.21s) and Dutee Chand finished third clocking 23.60s.
Earlier this month, Dhanalakshmihad won a gold in 200 m at the national Inter-State Championships held in Chennai with a timing of 23.27s.
Unfortunately, Dhanalakshmimissed the automatic qualification mark of 22.80s for the World Championships, however she might make it through a world ranking quota. The world championship is slated to be held between July 15 and July 24 in Oregon, USA, the deadline for qualification of which ends on Sunday (midnight).
Dhanalakshmi has now became the third Indian woman to run sub-23s after national record holder SaraswatiSaha (22.82s) and Hima Das (22.88s)in the 200m event. She crossedDutee Chand’s record of 23.60s.
