Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday nominated by Ace Sprinter Dutee Chand for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest sports honor of the country.
Apart from Dutee, the Odisha government also sent five other recommendations to the Ministry of Sports, said an official here.
“I thank the Head of Odisha Minister Naveen Patnaik to nominate my name for the Khel Ratna award.
Hopefully your blessing is always in me,” Dutee said on Twitter.
The Indian Ace Sprint broke the 100M national record itself, recorded a time of 11.7 seconds at the Indian 4 Grand Prix in Patiala last week to pass the automatic Olympic qualification time of 0.02 seconds.
He is, however, arranged to make it to the Tokyo Olympics based on the rank of the world.
The 25-year-old Dute, who won its own silver in the incident of 100m and 200 m at the 2018 Asian Games, was amended by Arjuna Award last year.
The Department of Sports and Youth Department of the Odisha Government has also nominated Birendra Birendra Birendra Birendra Lakra (Arjuna Charanhy (Dronacharya).