Till a year ago, Dutee Chand wasn't sure about what life had in store for her. She was dreaming Rio Olympics but in reality, there was uncertainty on whether she would even return to the athletics track.

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On Saturday, the sprinter qualified for the Rio Games in the women's 100m event after clocking her personal and national best of 11.30 seconds at XXVI International Meeting G Kosanov Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Not just that, Dutee went on to improve her timing later in the day, clinching a silver in the women's 100m finals with a scintillating timing of 11.24 seconds, thus breaking the national record twice.

Dutee may have created history by becoming the first Indian woman to qualify for the event since the qualification process began, but it came after many a heartbreaks for the Odisha athlete.

A year ago, the 20-year-old was staring at the task of getting a draconian International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) ruling on hyperandrogenism overturned, which had resulted in her suspension from competitive events.

The IAAF had imposed a ban on her in 2014 after she was found to have high levels of testosterone (male hormone). It cost her a chance to compete at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games as well as the Incheon Asian Games. Moreover, she lost an entire year of training while fighting the legal battle, which she would have devoted for securing an Olympic berth.

She finally got the much-needed respite in July last year from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, which suspended the IAAF's policy on hyperandrogenism in a landmark judgement. Dutee was thus able to make a comeback in both domestic and international events.

The time away in wilderness cost her dear as she struggled to get back to her best, until her redemption day at the Almaty Central Stadium on Saturday.

"I am really happy at the moment," Dutee said. "It has been a tough year for me. The hard work put in by my coach Ramesh sir has finally paid off. I would like to thank all the people in India who were praying for me to qualify. Their wishes have paid off. I will not let anyone down at Rio Olympics."

Dutee became the first Indian woman athlete to qualify for the 100m event in Olympics since the International Olympic Committee introduced a qualifying event in the segment. Legendary athlete PT Usha had qualified for the 100m event in 1980 Moscow Olympics but at that time, no qualification system was in place.

Dutee, who had previously missed the qualification mark by one-hundredth of a second at the Federation Cup, is the 20th Indian track and field athlete to have qualified for Rio.

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36No. of years after which India will be represented in the 100m event at the Olympics. PT Usha had qualified for the 100m event in 1980 Moscow Olympics