Odisha athlete-turned-technical official, Prabodha Kumar Mohanty achieved a glorious feat as he became the first World Athletics Bronze Level Referee of the State. Mohanty successfully passed this world referee examination in English, conducted online on 24 May 2025. He is now a proud member of the WA Referee list at Bronze Level.

World Athletics (WA) issued the Bronze Level Referee certificate on 11 June 2025, signed by its president and legendary British middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe. A technical official with more than 18 years experience, Mohanty conducted athletics competitions ranging from grassroots to global level.

His major international assignments include, World Military Games, Asian Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games, South Asian Games, Youth Commonwealth Games, Asian All Star Athletics Meet, Asian Grand Prix and South Asian Junior Athletics Championship.

The 62-year-old Mohanty, who hails from Palada village of Nemalo block in Cuttack district, also possesses technical official diploma from National Institute of Sports (NIS) and Level-1 from International Athletics Federation (now World Athletics).

Mohanty was a National level athlete in his heyday and excelled in high jump and decathlon. He won several medals in State Athletics Championships between 1978 and 1981, and a bronze in the Junior National Championship at Alleppy, Kerala in 1981.

A hard-working and friendly man, Mohanty served in the Indian Navy from 1982 to 1999. Currently he is working as the competition manager at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.