Bhubaneswar: The KIIT and KISS founder Dr Achyuta Samanta on Sunday felicitated 17 athletes who participated in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year in a special program at the KIIT University here. In the program, 15 Olympians and 2 Paralympians were honored and each athlete was given a cash award of Rs 7 lakh.
Achyuta Samanta said that “KIIT has always been working towards the development of sports and sportsmen. KIIT feels honored to have sent the most athletes to the Olympics. A total of 20 Olympians and two Paralympians. They represented India in the 2016 Rio Olympics , 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 17 participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Among them seven are Arjuna award winning players.
Amit Rohidas (hockey), Kishore Kumar Jena and Annu Rani (javelin throw) , Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shot put) , Parul Choudhury (5000m steeplechase) , Jyoti Yaraji (100m hurdles) , Priyanka (20km race walk) ) , Prachi and MR Puvama (4 times 400m relay) , Parajit Singh , Akshadeep Singh and Vikas Singh (20km race walk) , Ankita (5000m run) , Rampal Singh and Praveen Kumar (parathlete high throw) , Kiran (400m ), and Suraj Panwar (Marathon Racewalk) were given enhanced financial incentive amount.
Similarly, KIIT and KISS athletes who won medals in the 4th South Asian Junior Athletics Championship 2024 and State Weightlifting Championship 2024 were also felicitated today. All the players lauded Achyut Samantha's efforts and expressed that the financial reward announced for them by Samanta before the Olympics boosted their morale.
Odisha's star players Anuradha Biswal , Shradhanjali Samantarai , Dutee Chand , Amiya Mallick , Srabani Nanda , Minati Mahapatra , Olympian Bhavani Devi , Ava Khatua , Rutuparna Panda, Shwetaparna Panda were prominently present in this event .
KIIT University Sports and Yoga Department Director General Dr. Gaganendu Das introduced the players and gave the welcome speech. Among others, KIIT and KISS Sports Adviser Upendra Kumar Mohanty, KIIT University Chancellor Prof. Sharanjit Singh , Vice Chancellor Prof. Debashis Bandopadhyay , Chancellor Prof. Gyana Ranjan Mohanty , Chief Athletic Coach Sanjay Kumar Gadnaik , KIIT University Vice Chancellor Prof. Deepak Behera , Chancellor Dr. Prashant Kumar Rautaray was the chief guest.
