Odisha sprinter Animesh Kujur won the first medal for Odisha on the opening day of the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition, bagging silver in the mens 100m event with a timing of 10.32 seconds at the Maharajas College Stadium in Kochi, Kerala today.

Railway runner Pramod Gurav beat National Games champion Animesh Kujur, National record-holder Gurinderveer Singh (Reliance), former National record-holder Manikant Hoblidhar (Karnataka) and 200m National record-holder Amlan Borgohain (Reliance) to win the gold medal, clocking 10.27 seconds. Hoblidhar settled for the bronze medal with a time of 10.35 seconds.

Odisha narrowly missed three bronze medals as Odisha Olympian Srabani Nanda (womens 100m sprint), Kishore Kumar Jena (mens javelin throw) and Sarun Payasingh (mens long jump) finished fourth in respective events.

A total of 16 athletes from Odisha are participating in the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition, which will conclude on April 24. This competition will be a key selection event for the Asian Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held in Gumi, South Korea from 27 to 31 May 2025.
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PHOTO: Odisha sprinter Animesh Kujur celebrates after winning the silver medal in mens 100m event at the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition in Kochi on 21 April 2025.