|
|
Odisha secured five medals in the 62nd National Open Athletics Championships, which was held at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru from 11 to 15 October 2023. The five medals include two gold, two silver and one bronze.
Pragyan Prasanti Sahu won the first medal for Odisha, bagging the women 100m hurdles gold on the second day of the five-day track and field competition.
Pragyan, who trains at Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar and pursues 2nd Year BA Sociology on sports quota at KIIT University, won the race, clocking 13.46 seconds.
|
|
|
The other gold medal for Odisha was bagged by Animesh Kujur in men 200m sprint with a new meet record of 20.74 seconds. A native of Chhattisgarh, Kujur bettered the previous meet record of 20.75 seconds, which had been set by Amlan Borgohain (Assam) at Warangal in 2021.
This is the first time that 20-year-old Animesh represented Odisha in a National championship. He earlier won national medals for his home State Chhattisgarh. Animesh is now a cadet of Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC, Bhubaneswar.
Odisha woman Olympian Srabani Nanda secured one of the two silver medals in women 200m sprint with a time of 23.88 seconds. Odisha 4x100m men relay team, consisting of Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Aryan Ekka, Doddapati Jayaram and Amiya Kumar Mallick captured the other silver medal, clocking 39.74 seconds.
The lone bronze medal for Odisha was pocketed by javelin thrower Vikrant Malik with an effort of 77.65 metre. Malik is a native of Panipat, Haryana and studies at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar.
Odisha won one medal indirectly with Bighnaraj Miridia securing the silver medal for Police Sports Control Board in 4x400m mixed relay event. An employee of Odisha Police, Miridia trains at Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC. A total of 19 athletes represented Odisha in this championship.
ODISHA SQUAD:
Women: Sukhi Baskey, Manisha Meral, Srabani Nanda, Pragyan Prasanti Sahu, Divya Shandilya, Susmita Tigga, Sabita Toppo.
Men: Krushna Chandra Acharya, Hari Behera, Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Abhisekh Dalabehera, Ashok Dandasena, Aryan Ekka, Dondapati Mruty Jayaram, Animesh Kujur, Swadhin Kumar Majhi, Vikrant Malik, Amiya Kumar Mallick, Abhinash Sahu.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PICS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP: Pragyan Sahu celebrates after winning the women 100m hurdles gold medal at the 62nd National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru on 12 October 2023.
RIGHT: Srabani Nanda poses with her 200m silver medal in Bengaluru on 14 October 2023.
|