Woman international thrower Suchtra Parida also achieved a remarkable feat for Odisha, winning the javelin gold medal with National Record in F-55 category. Suchitra threw the spear to a distance of 17.23 metre to erase the previous National Record of 14.73 metre, which had been set by Sakshi Kasana of Uttar Pradesh.

Pankaj Bhue was another outstanding Odisha performer in para athletics, winning gold medal in the mens 100m sprint and silver in the long jump. Mangat Hembram and Arjun Bhatra were other medal winners for Odisha in para athletics, grabbing one bronze each.

Gadadhar Sahu of Odisha came up with a power-packed show, winning the gold medal in the elite 59kg section with a total lift of 140 kgs. Chandan Kumar Behera was the other Odisha medal winner para powerlifting, pocketing bronze in 97kg weight class with a total of Rs 144kg.

Deep Ranjan Bisoyee was the only para badminton player to win a medal for Odisha in the KIPG, securing mens singles bronze in SL4 category. A 14-member squad, featuring eight para-athletes, four para-shuttlers and two para-powerfifters, represented Odisha in the KIPG.

The first edition of KIPG was organised by the Union Government from 10 to 17 December across three venues in Delhi and across seven sports disciplines. The seven disciplines were: Para Archery, Par Athletics, Para Badminton, Para Table Tennis, Para Powerlifting, CP Football and Para Shooting.

Approximately 1500 athletes, 200 technical officials, 350 support staff, 300 escorts and 20 classifiers from 36 States and UTs participated in this mega event. Odisha competed in three disciplines _ para athletics, para badminton and para powerlifting.

ODISHA CONTINGENT:

Para Athletics: Jayanti Behera, Arjun Bhatra, Lalprasad Soren, Mangat Hembram, Niklas Pradhan, Pankaj Bhue, Prafulla Kumar Khandayatray and Suchitra Parida.
Para Badminton: Deep Ranjan Bisoyee, Nurul Hossain Khan, Gedala Dillaswar Rao and Subhrajeeet Maharana.
Para Powerlifting: Gadadhar Sahu and Chadan Kumar Behera.

ODISHA MEDALLISTS:
Gold: Jayanti Behera, Para athletics, Womens 100m run, T47 category, 13.40 secs (Dec 11).
Gold: Jayanti Behera, Para athletics, Womens 200m run, T47 category, 27.22 secs (Dec 11).
Gold: Jayanti Behera, Para athletics, Womens 400m run, T47 category, 1:01.86 (Dec 12).
Gold: Pankaj Bhue, Para athletics, Mens 100m run, T13 category, 12.41 secs (Dec 11).
Gold: Suchitra Parida, Para athletics, Womens javelin throw, F-55 category, 17.23m* (Dec 11).
Gold: Gadadhar Sahu, Para powerlifting, Elite 59kg category, total lift 140kg (Dec 13).
Silver: Pankaj Bhue, Para athletics, Mens long jump, T13 category, 5.33m (Dec 11).
Bronze: Mangat Hembram, Para athletics, Mens 100m run, T13 category, 12.63 secs (Dec 11).
Bronze: Deep Ranjan Bisoyee, Para badminton, Mens singles, SL4 category (Dec 11).
Bronze: Arjun Bhatra, Para athletics, Mens 400m run, T-12 category, 57.05 secs (Dec 12).
Bronze: Chandan Kumar Behera, Para powerlifting, 97kg category, total lift 144kg (December 14).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP: Odisha woman para sprinter Jayanti Behera poses with her 100m gold medal at the 1st Khelo India Para Games in New Delhi on 11 December 2023.
RIGHT: Odisha para athlete Pankaj Bhue displays his 100m gold medal at the 1st Khelo India Para Games in New Delhi on 11 December 2023.