Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s young thrower Ommkar Prasad Nanda and long jumper Sarun Payasingh bagged gold medal each in the inaugural day of the 1st National indoor Athletics Championship at Kalinga Stadium here on Tuesday.
In the morning season, in the U-20 men’s shui put, local boy Ommkar in his first attempt with a best throw of 17.77m won the first gold for the host State. Sai Kiran A of NCOE Patiala and Harshit Gahlot of JSW won silver and bronze medals with a throw of 17.00m and 16.98m respectively. “I am happy that I won a gold medal in the first National Indoor meet at my home turf. Earlier, I had got the opportunity to avail the indoor facilities here. Today was not my best day, despite that I made a podium finish. My coach motivated me in each and every throw”, said Ommkar.
Ommkar won a gold medal with 17.85m in the U-20 shut put event 5th Indian Open Throws Competition at Patial 7-8 March. Ommkar’s coach Malaya Rajan Pati told “winning gold in any national event is a matter of honour. Ommkar an 18-year athlete is very young, he has to go a long way. In the year 2018 at the age 10 he started his training under me at Kalinga Stadium. Being a kid, he never missed any training seasons. His dedication and hard work resulted today”.
Sarun Payasingh won the gold medal with a personal best jump of 7.80m in the men’s long jump final. Sarun said “it’s a great moment for me. I won the top titles, my Reliance Foundation coach always guided me to achieve big in life”. He clinched bronze at the South Asian Athletics Championships 2025 and followed it up with a personal best of 7.78m at the season-opening Indian Open Jumps 2026 in the men’s long jump.
Now, he has bettered his mark once again, registering 7.80m at the National Indoor Athletics Championships. Total 21 States and 12 different institutions are participating in the first Indoor meet. A 33-member Odisha contingent including 13 women athletes will fight for the honour.
