Bhubaneswar, July 20: The 37-member Odisha athletics squad made a strong mark at the Indian Open Athletics Meet held in Patna on Saturday, clinching a total of eight medals — including three gold, three silver, and two bronze.
Leading the medal haul was Laxmipriya Kisan, who opened Odisha’s gold tally by winning the women’s 1500m race with a time of 4:37.90. In the field events, Sarun Payasingh claimed the gold in men's long jump, leaping an impressive 7.62 metres.
A double podium finish came for Odisha in the women’s long jump, where Manisha Merel soared to 5.79m to win gold, while Purnima Hembram followed closely with a jump of 5.67m, securing the silver.
In the fiercely contested men’s 100m sprint, Abhinash Sahu and Amiya Kumar Mallick delivered strong performances, earning the silver and bronze medals with times of 10.71 seconds and 10.76 seconds respectively.
Experienced sprinter Srabani Nanda narrowly missed out on the gold in the women’s 100m, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind Bihar’s Shatakshi Rai. Nanda clocked 12.05 seconds, settling for the silver medal in a nail-biting finish.
Rounding off the medal tally, Dayanidhi Munda brought home the bronze in the men’s 1500m, finishing with a timing of 3:53.30.
