Rio 2016: Dutee Chand to be gifted XUV500 by Anand Mahindra after Olympics

Rio-bound Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has been promised a car by the head of a leading automobile brand, regardless of her performance in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Dutee, who qualifed for the Rio Olympics in the women’s 100m sprint event, has been promised a XUV500 by Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, regardless of her performances after the athlete revealed her intention of “buying the car sometime in the future”, according to a report on The Times of India.

“My dream is to buy a big car whenever I get enough money. I can’t buy a BMW or Benz as I don’t have the money. Also I like the Mahindra Jeep more. I want to buuy an XUV500 sometime in the future,” Dutee was quoted as saying in the report.

Mahindra, who is known to be quite active on the social media, took to his official Twitter account to make his commitment of gifting one of his company’s best-selling cars to the national sprint champion.

Thank you for bringing this article to my attention.I'm deeply touched by her affection & interest in our brand(1/3) https://t.co/SPnQ8adiGr

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 10, 2016

For her achievements, I commit to gifting her an XUV5OO after the Olympics on my personal account.(2/3) https://t.co/SPnQ8adiGr

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 10, 2016

I encourage Dutee to do her best to get to the semis, but I will cheer for her & gift her the car regardless.(3/3) https://t.co/aFgTnI4M71

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 10, 2016

Dutee was bestowed with the nickname of ‘Nano’ after winning the Tata-manufactured car for her stellar run in the 2013 school nationals. In the TOI report, she reveals further that she still drives the car around in her village in Odisha, even though it was quite some time since she last visited home.

Chand scripted history on 25 June after qualifying in the 100 metres category for the forthcoming Rio Olympics.

In a scintillating run in the women’s 100m heats of the 26th G Kosanov memorial meet in Almaty, Dutee clocked 11.30 seconds, thereby creating a new national record and qualifying for the Rio Games. The qualifying mark for Rio was set at 11.32 seconds.

Dutee, after her qualification, vowed to perform even better and not let anyone down in the Olympics.

(With inputs from IANS)