Bhubaneswar: Ace Odisha sprinter Pratik Maharana lived upto expectations with a spectacular performance in front of his home crowd here at the Kalinga Stadium on Monday.
The 18-year-old Pratik scorched the track to clinch the 200m gold medal in Men’s U-20 category at the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships 2025.
Pratik stopped the clock at 21.24 seconds, which bettered the meet record of 21.25.
🎥 #Odisha sprinter Pratik Maharana put up a outstanding performance in the U20 Men’s 200m Run to set a new meet record at the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships 2025! 🏃🏻#OdishaForSports #NationalJuniorAthleticsChampionships2025 pic.twitter.com/fZwFFoNPoJ
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) October 13, 2025
The Odisha boy also achieved the U-20 World Championship qualification mark of 21.26 seconds. Pratik will thus be representing India in next year’s World Athletics U-20 Championships to be held in Eugene, USA, from August 5-9, 2026.
On the opening day of the Junior Nationals, Pratik had managed a silver medal in Men’s U-20 100m event, with a timing of 10.72 seconds.
“I had run the 100m in 10.72 seconds to win silver. Today, I corrected mistakes I made in 100m to finish first in 200m in 21.24 seconds,” an ecstatic Pratik said after his victory.
ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ପ୍ରତୀକ ମହାରଣା ୪୦ତମ ଜାତୀୟ ଜୁନିୟର ଆଥଲେଟିକ୍ସ ଚାମ୍ପିୟନସିପ୍-୨୦୨୫ରେ ପୁରୁଷ ୨୦୦ମି ବର୍ଗରେ ଉତ୍ତମ ପ୍ରଦର୍ଶନ ଜରିଆରେ ସ୍ବର୍ଣ୍ଣ ପଦକ ହାସଲ କରିବା ପରେ ନିଜର ଖୁସି ପ୍ରକାଶ କରିଛନ୍ତି। ଏହି ପ୍ରଦର୍ଶନ ଜରିଆରେ ସେ ୨୦ ବର୍ଷରୁ କମ୍ ବିଶ୍ଵ ଆଥଲେଟିକ୍ସ ଚାମ୍ପିୟନସିପ୍ ପାଇଁ ଯୋଗ୍ୟତା ହାସଲ କରିଛନ୍ତି।#OdishaForSports… pic.twitter.com/mo6MKyc1VX
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) October 13, 2025
Another Odisha athlete Omkar Prasad Nanda bagged bronze medal in the U-20 Men’s Shot Put competition.
