Asserting supremacy, Indian athletes bagged 53 out of 67 top-four positions, which featured 13 first, 14 second, 13 third and 13 fourth. Among five Odisha athletes, Pragyan Prasanti Sahu and Animesh Kujur (originally from Chhattisgarh) secured first positions in womens 100m hurdles and mens 200m run, clocking 13.74 seconds and 20.77 seconds respectively.

Lalu Prasad Bhoi was the only other prize winner from Odisha, finishing fourth in mens 100m run (10.54 seconds). Woman Olympian Srabani Nanda finished fifth in womens 100m run (11.86s) and could not qualify for the 100m final. Middle and long-distance runner Ashok Dandasena, who bagged seven gold and one silver medals in World Police & Fire Games 2025, also could not finish his event, which was mens 800m run.

Held for the first time in India, the WACT Bronze event made a big impact in terms of hype and hoopla with the State Government spending lavishly on media campaigns, guest hospitality and celebrations. Though nothing was disclosed on the budget, knowledgeable sources estimate that it could have cost the government around Rs 12 to 15 crore.

But in terms of participation of star athletes and the quality of performance dished out,  the event proved to be ordinary. “Though branded as a World class event, the WACT Bronze was no better than our National domestic series such as Indian Open or Indian Grand Prix, and certainly below the level of National Inter-State Senior and National Open Athletics Championships,’’ opined one of the all-time great athletes of Odisha, under the condition of anonymity.

“Did not find a single foreign athlete who is a known face in the World or Asian circuit. Neeraj Chopra and Jyothi Yarraji, the top two Indian stars, did not participate. Though Australia was one of the 17 participating countries, no athlete from Down Under was seen in action. The fact that a country like Djibouti won a first prize, speaks volumes about the standard of the WACT Bronze,” added the eminent Odisha athlete.

Odisha Olympian Dutee Chand was as forthright as ever when she questioned the priority of the State Government in promoting sports. “Huge amount of money is being spent in the sports sector. But the priority is wrong. Instead of building show-piece stadiums and hosting low-grade international events, the Odisha Government should invest more on grooming athletes, their training, coaching, diet and exposure,’’ said Dutee.

An eminent Odisha athletics coach wondered why only five athletes from Odisha were given the opportunity to represent India when the State was hosting the international event.

“I know that it was an invitational meet and athletes were selected by National Federations on the basis of their international rankings. But the host state or country always gets additional berths as a quota. On the contrary, Odisha got less representation compared to other India states, establishments and high performance centres,’’ he pointed out.

“How could Odisha sprint star and former National record holder Amiya Mallick be ignored? Why promising athletes such as Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram, Swadhin Majhi, Pratik Maharana, Ommkar Prasad Nanda, Laxmipriya Kisan and Sabita Toppo were not given opportunity to vie for honours?” questioned the coach.

RESULTS:

MEN:
400m run: 1. Vishal TK (NCOE, Trivandrum, India), 2. Amoj Jacob (NCOE, Trivandrum, India), 3. Santhosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu, India).
Triple jump: 1. Abdulla Aboobacker (Air Force, India), 2. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Air Force, India), 3. Gailey Venister D (Tamil Nadu, India).
100m run: 1. Muhammad Azeem Bin (Malaysia), 2. Chamod M Yodhasing (Sri Lanka), 3. Danish Iftikhar Muha (Malaysia).
800m run: 1. Mohammed Afsal P (Air Force, India), 2. Prakash Gadade (Maharashtra, India), 3. Krishan Kumar (Haryana, India).
Javelin throw: 1. Rumesh Tharanga (Sri Lanka), 2. Shivam Lohakare (Maharashtra, India), 3. Sumedha J Ranasinghe (Sri Lanka).
Long jump: 1. Sreeshankar M (JSW, India), 2. Shahnavaz Khan (UP, India), 3. Lokesh Sathyanathan (Karnataka, India).
5000m run: 1. Waberi Igueh Houssein (Djibouti), 2. Abhishek Pal (Railway, India), 3. Sawan Barwal (Army, India).
200m run: 1. Animesh Kujur (Odisha, India), 2. Ko Seunghwan (Republic of Korea), 3. Ragul Kumar G (Tamil Nadu, India).
4,400m relay: 1. S Senarath Mudiyan, S Imesh Dismitha, O Jayathungalage , K Silva Kuruwitage (Sri Lanka), 2. Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Amoj Jacob, Vishal TK, Dharamveer Choudhary (India-A), 3. T Yaseen, M Janjon Al Tameem, A Jumaah Al Dirawi, N Merzah (Iraq).

WOMEN:
Javelin throw: 1. Annu Rani (UP, India), 2. NDL Hatarabagleka (Sri Lanka), 3. Deepika (Haryana, India).
400m run: 1. Vijaya Kumari GK (Karnataka, India), 2. Devyaniba Mahendras (Gujarat, India), 3. Louise Evans (Great Britain).
Long jump: 1. Shaili Singh (UP, India), 2. Bhavani Yadav (Railway, India), 3. Sandra Babu (JSW, India).
100m run: 1. Abinaya Rajarajan (NCOE, Trivandrum, India), 2. Sneha SS (Karnataka, India), 3. Nithya Gandhe (Telangana, India).
800m run: 1. Amandeep Kaur (Punjab, India), 2. Huidrom Bhumeshwor (IOCL, India), 3. Thota Sankeertana (Chhattisgarh, India).
100m hurdles: 1. Pragyan Prasanti Sahu (Odisha, India), 2. Nandhini Kongan (Tamil Nadu, India), 3. Anjali C (Kerala, India).
1500m run: 1. Pooja Haryana, India), 2. Lili Das (Uttarakhand, India), 3. Amandeep Kaur (Punjab, India).
200m run: 1. Angel Silvia M (NCOE Bangalore, India), 2. Nithya Gandhe (Telangana, India), 3. Unnathi Aiyappa (Karnataka, India).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP: Odisha woman hurdler Pragyan Sahu celebrates after winning the first position at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze in Bhubaneswar on 10 August 2025.
RIGHT: Sprinter Animesh Kujur reacts after winning the 200m first prize for Odisha at the WACT Bronze in Bhubaneswar on 10 August 2025.