Cuttack: The Odisha government is working on providing infrastructure and other facilities of international standard to enable the state’s athletes to win individual medals in 2036 Olympics, said secretary, Sports and Youth Services R Vineel Krishna here on Tuesday.
Speaking at the annual awards function of Odisha Sports Journalists Association (OSJA), he said India may host the Olympics in 2036 and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wishes state athletes to win individual medals in different disciplines. The state government has been preparing the sports facilities to achieve this target, he added.
“I hope that Odisha athletes will win Olympic medals in weightlifting initially. Considering the state’s tradition of weightlifting, the government is setting up high performance centres at 50 places and weightlifting platforms at 50 places across the state,” he said.
In order to encourage the athletes, prestigious international tournaments are being organised in the state. “We are organising state-level events at national level and national events at international level,” he added.
Stating that Odisha has reached 9th position in Khelo India, he said the governments hoped the athletes to take the state to top 5 position.
Hockey legend Peter Tirkey and young cyclist Swasti Singh were presented OSJA awards 2023 at the event organised at Barbati Stadium in Cuttack. While Tirkey was honoured for his lifetime achievement, Singh was awarded as best athlete of 2022. Both of them were presented a trophy, a citation, and Rs 25,000 monetary reward as part of the awards.
OSJA president K Ravi presided the function which was attended by football legend Bijay Das, pace bowler Basant Mohanty. Among others, OSJA secretary Debi Prasanna Mohanty and members of the association were present at the programme which was coordinated by Sambit Mohapatra.
