Ahead Of Junior Nationals, Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium To Stage East Zone Junior Athletics Meet

Bhubaneswar: The 35th East Zone Junior Athletics Championship will be held at Kalinga Stadium here from October 7 to 9.

The three-day meet, being organised by Odisha Athletics Association under the aegis of Athletics Federation of India and the state’s Sports & Youth Services Department, will see 10 participants from 10 states vying for glory.

Besides hosts Odisha, athletes from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur will be in action.

Of the 600-plus young athletes to compete in various track and field events, Bihar will have the largest contingent (134), while Nagaland will be represented by only 5 athletes.

Odisha will field a 115-strong contingent, including several trainees from Odisha-Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre and sports hostels under the state’s Sports department.

With the 39th National Junior Athletics meet also scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium later this month (October 25 to 29), the East Zone championship will be a good dress rehearsal for many budding talents.

“This competition will be like a preparatory meet for these young athletes ahead of the junior national athletics championships which will be held in the last week of October,” said Prabodha Kumar Mohanty, Technical Chairman of Odisha Athletics Association.

State Sports & Youth Services minister Suryabanshi Suraj said hosting the event at Kalinga Stadium “aligns with the government’s vision to make Odisha a major hub”.