Bhubaneswar: Young athletes from Odisha presented a brilliant performance at the recently concluded South Asian Athletics Federation Junior Championships in Chennai as they added five medals to India’s haul of 48 medals.
Odisha’s Pratik Maharana, Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram, Mahendra Santa, Sabita Toppo and Laxmi Priya Kisan represented India in the SAAF Junior Championships. They added 4 silvers and 1 bronze to India’s medal tally in 4 individual and 1 team event.
Pratik, who once worked as a delivery executive in Bargarh and the harsh realities of life amid COVID pandemic forcing him to put his dream of becoming a sprinter on back burner, came back to the track and made it to the India’s contingent for the SAAF Junior games with help of Odisha government and guidance from his coach. He then went on to create history by grabbing 2 silver medals for India on a single day, in the men’s 200m junior and 4×100 m relay respectively. He hopes to continue to excel on the tracks with the support from the government. “I am very thankful to the government of Odisha for its continuous support and with this I will be able to win more medals in the future,” said an elated Pratik.
Hailing from Kalahandi, 19-year-old Jayaram bagged 2 medals, one silver and another bronze for the country in his maiden SAAF competition.
Out of the 5 medals bagged by team Odisha at the SAAF games, 2 have come from female athletes. Sabita Toppo and Laxmi Priya Kisan, who was a last-minute addition to the Indian contingent, bagged silver and a bronze in the women’s 100m hurdles and women’s 800m event respectively.
While Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram, Mahendra Santa, Sabita Toppo and Laxmi Priya Kisan practises at Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre under the guidance of coach Martin Owens, Pratik trains under his coach Siba Mishra at Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium in Rourkela.