Federation Cup: Dhanalakshmi shatters PT Usha's 23-year-old 200m meet record 

India's latest sensation in athletics, Dhanalakshmi once again proved her mettle as she smashed PT Usha's 23-year-old women's 200m meet record at the ongoing Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships on Thursday.

Dhanalakshmi blazed into the final with a timing of 23.26s in a dominant performance. Sprint queen Hima Das had to be content with second place after clocking 24.39s, while Delhi's Simran Deep Kaul finished third with a timing of 24.92s.

With this achievement, Dhanalakshmi edges closer to the Tokyo Olympic qualifying mark of 22.80s. The 22-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete will be eager to extend her winning momentum in the final event on Friday.

Legendary Indian track and field athlete PT Usha had created the meet record with a timing of 23.30s at the Federation Cup in 1998, which remained unbroken for 23 years.

Meanwhile, former Asian Games gold medalist Saraswati Saha holds the current 200m national record of 22.82s set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet in 2002.

Dhanalakshmi topped women's 100m sprint final

The Tamil Nadu sprinter also bagged the top honors in the 100m sprint after clocking 11.39s on Tuesday. She outpowered double Asian Games silver medalist Dutee Chand, who came second with a timing of 11.58s, while Hima Das was disqualified after a false start.

Dhanalakshmi's blistering 11.39s made her the fastest woman of the championships on the second day of the event at the NIS campus in Patiala. Her personal best is 11.38s that she set in the heats a day before.

Even though Dhanalakshmi's pet event is the 200m, it remains to be seen if she manages to earn a Tokyo berth as part of the country's 4x100m quartet.