Borgohain & Toppo Shine At Inaugural RF Odisha HPC Competition Series

Bhubaneswar: Athletes from the Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics High Performance Centre (HPC) in Bhubaneswar registered 100 personal best (PB) timings in the four-competition series that concluded at Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.

The sprint and middle-distance events began on October 24, followed by events on October 28, 31 and November 8.

In a departure from standard practice, races in these competitions were graded on timings achieved by athletes, irrespective of their age or sex.

Among standout performers was Amlan Borgohain, who underlined his status as the top-ranked 200m sprinter in India in 2020 with a PB of 21.20 seconds. Borgohain achieved a PB of 10.63 seconds in 100m also. He received the Best Overall Performance Award.

Another athlete who impressed was Sabita Toppo, a 15-year-old sprint hurdler. Sabita, who is from Sundargarh and joined the HPC in August 2019, achieved four personal best timings in six races, including three in her favoured 100m hurdles event.

The four-competition series was restricted to 29 athletes from the HPC, because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

TOP PERFORMERS IN RF ODISHA HPC COMPETITION SERIES

Best Overall Performance — Amlan Borgohain

Best Male Performance — Md Almagir Hussain

Best Female Performance — Sabita Toppo

Most Improved Athlete — Balabadra Bhatra

Most Consistent Athlete — Debi Prasad Kar

Best Monitoring Cohort Performance — Mohendra Santa

Best Newcomer — Laxmi Priya Kissan

Athlete’s Athlete of the Year (voted by athletes) — Birsa Gagarai

ADDITIONAL AWARDS

Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year (voted by athletes) — Birsa Gagarai