Bhubaneswar: Odisha sprinters won three medals, including one gold and one bronze in relay events, on the second day of the 63rd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship at Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula in Haryana on Saturday.
Animesh Kujur secured one silver medal in men’s 100m, clocking 10.46 seconds.
Kujur, who hails from Chhattisgarh, but represents Odisha in National championships, also played an important role in Odisha winning the men’s 4x100m relay gold medal with a time of 40.02 seconds. The other three sprinters of the men’s relay squad were: Amiya Kumar Mallick, Dondapati Mruty Jayaram and Aryan Ekka.
Odisha women’s 4×100m relay team, featuring Olympian Srabani Nanda, Sukhi Baskey, Manisha Merel and Merimukta Soreng, won a bronze medal, clocking 46.65 seconds. Srabani missed another bronze medal as she finished fourth in women’s 100m sprint with a time of 11.79 seconds.
As many as three Odisha athletes made it to the men’s 100m final. While Kujur claimed the silver, Lalu Prasad Bhoi (10.66s) and Dondapati Mruty Jayaram (10.73) bagged fifth and seventh positions respectively.
The ongoing National Interstate Senior Championship is the last domestic competition for Indian athletes to make the cut for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, scheduled to commence from July 26.
