Poor Gachibowli track hits Dutee Chand’s Olympics training, sprinter leaves Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Five years after India’s top sprinter Dutee Chand moved to Hi-Tec city following the hyperandrogenism row, poor condition of Gachibowli stadium track has forced her to shift to her hometown Bhubaneswar to train for the Olympics.
Dutee arrived here in 2014 after the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) suspended her — a verdict she has since appealed in the Court of Administration for Sport (CAS) and won the right to compete.
The move to Hyderabad changed her career. Before coach Nagpuri Ramesh took her under his wings, she was shunned by all due to the controversy. But once here, Pullela Gopichand provided her accommodation and other training facilities at his badminton academy. Soon she took a liking to the city. It became her favourite training venue and resulted in some record feats.
The situation is different now. Her coach Ramesh told TOI that poor condition of Gachibowli stadium track was the main reason why Dutee shifted to Bhubaneswar. “She has excellent facilities at the Gopichand Academy. But the Gachibowli track is turning out to be dangerous. We are worried that she may get injured if she trains on this track. With Tokyo Olympics just a few months away, she did not want to run the risk of training here,” Ramesh added.
The synthetic track at the stadium was laid in 2002 for the National Games and was of top quality. Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe had singed the track at the Afro-Asian Games and was lavish in her praise.
The life of a track ranges between 8 to 10 years depending on wear and tear. Having already logged 17 years, the Gachibowli track is more a hazard for athletes, sprinters especially, whose downforce to gain speed can lead to injury if the track is not good.
Unlike Dutee, several other athletes training at the stadium have no other alternative. “We have several Asian and international medallists training at this venue. We are worried about them. I have written to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) requesting them to lay a new synthetic track. For us this is the main stadium. Nearly 40 athletes are coming up supported by the Mytrah Foundation and Gopichand Academy. I hope some top official will take up this issue fast,” Ramesh said.
A fresh concern for athletes is that this stadium is now also the home of the Hyderabad Football Club (HFC). “The ISL is a yearly feature and our training will suffer every year. We are already struggling with poor facilities and if we don’t train regularly it would affect our performance,” said an athlete.