However, Odisha squandered the opportunity of winning a gold medal as star sprinter Animesh Kujur did not participate in this major National championship. After a disappointing performance at the recent World Championship in Tokyo, where he finished ninth and last in 200m hits, Kujur seems to have gone into a hibernation.

A native of Chhattisgarh, Kujur has been training at the Bhubaneswar-based Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC and representing Odisha in National championships since 2023. The current National record holder in both 100m and 200m sprint, Kujur was also conferred with the Biju Patnaik Award 2024 as the Best Sportsperson of the Year by the Government of Odisha.

The absence of Kujur at the Open National Championship raised eyebrows as the Athletics Federation of India was supposed to select the top six sprinters for the 2026 Asian Games 4x100m relay team from this championship. A total of 14 athletes from Odisha registered their entries for the Open National Championship.

ODISHA SQUAD (14): Malay Barik, Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram, Pratik Maharana, Swadhin Kumar Majhi, Amiya Mallick, Dayanidhi Munda, Vikrant Malick, Harisankar Panigrahi, Sarun Payasingh, Abhinash Sahu, Bhima Sardar, Laxmipriya Kisan, Srabani Nanda, Divya Shandilya.
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TOP: Sprinters of Odisha 4x100m relay team (L-R), Abhinash Sahu, Sarun Payasingh, Amiya Kumar Mallick and Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram pose with their bronze medals at the Open National Athletics Championship in Ranchi on 29 Sept 2025.
RIGHT: Odisha high jumper Swadhin Majhi (Extreme right) poses with his bronze medal at the Open National Athletics Championship in Ranchi on 29 Sept 2025.