KHELO INDIA YOUTH GAMES 2022 - A SUMMARY OF ALL THREE DAYS

After three days of gripping, electrifying and edge-of-the-seat sporting action, we have come to the end of the road for all athletes from the Odisha Athletics Contingent in the Khelo India Youth Games 2022. The tournament, which was inaugurated in 2018, has now revolutionised into one of the biggest sporting events in the country. Fantastically organised by the Madhya Pradesh Government, KIYG 2022 is hosting 27 sports across various categories and providing the finest youngsters of India the platform and exposure they need to perform at their best.

Odisha is currently fifth in the overall medal tally and the athletics team have massively contributed to their strong position so far. Their youngsters raised the bar & put in the best-ever performance so far in track and field competitions at KIYG. The athletes from Odisha bagged a total of seven medals across all events, establishing their dominance on the tracks, with the excellent Tatya Tope Stadium giving a great backdrop to some exceptional athletics performances. Here’s a summary of the three days spent by Odisha’s young athletes on the tracks at the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 hosted in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The format of two heats leading into the finals supported excellent performance. This was seen in the results of many of the events. None less so than the men’s and the boys’ 100m where Odisha’s DM Jayaram ran 10.53s with a slight wind assistance to win the boys’ 100m. This is an exceptional time and well within the old record. Jayaram started on a strong foot by securing first place in the 100m heats with a fabulous timing of 10.79s, which ensured his place in the finals. Later on in the finals, the 17-year-old from Tirupati exceeded all expectations and soared even higher. His timing of 10.53s broke the competition record and made him the fastest 100m sprinter in Khelo India Youth Games history. Thus, Jayaram bagged the first gold medal for Team Odisha.

Up next we had the young athletic sensation Sabita Toppo in the finals of her long jump event. Sabita jumped 5.73m which was enough for her to outperform the other athletes, getting a well-deserved gold medal. Jamuna Tudu also participated in the event but unfortunately, her distance was a little short of the top three places as she recorded 5.30m to finish fifth. With that, we came to the end of day 1 for the athletics team of the Odisha contingent. It was quite a successful day for the team but they knew they had an array of events and many medals to grab on day 2 of their events.

The second day was started by Pankaj Mondal in the 800m heats. The youngster from Hoogly, West Bengal put in a brilliant shift on the tracks and broke his own personal best by registering a time of 1:53.68s which got him fourth place and a spot in the finals. Following him, we had Nitish Kullu and Rajendra Sidhu in the 110m hurdles heats. Both athletes secured fourth place and made it to the finals after clocking a time of 14.69s and 14.66s respectively. In the finals, Nitish produced his personal best of 14.60s and Rajendra clocked his season’s best of 14.54s to finish seventh and sixth respectively.

The next medal won by Team Odisha was courtesy of Swagat Behera in the triple jump event. The 17-year-old clinched the silver medal in the triple jump finals after recording a distance of 14.95m, bringing in the first medal of the day. Swagat also jumped his personal best and equalled the gold medal jump, but had to settle for silver as his second jump was not as long as the winner’s second longest jump. Sabita Toppo too built on her momentum from day 1 when she stepped up for her main event of 100m hurdles. Sabita raced across the track in a personal best 13.96s, dipping below 14s for the first time, a real milestone in her career that won her a second gold medal in Khelo India Youth Games 2022. Mery Mukta Soreng, representing Team Odisha in the triple jump event, also bagged a bronze medal.

After some strong individual performances, it was time for the relay events where teamwork came into the picture. The boys' relay team in the 4x100m relay event featuring DM Jayaram, Rajendra Sidhu, Reyan Basha and Nitish Kullu bagged the gold medal and they did it in style. The boys finished the race in 42.23s, breaking yet another Khelo India national record. The time and effort put into the Odisha Relay Project paid off when Rajendra Sidhu crossed the finish line first with the baton.

Following that we had the final of the girls team in the 4x100m relay event with Jamuna Tudu, Laxmipriya Kisan, Sabita Toppo & Mery Mukta Soreng representing Team Odisha. The girls secured a surprise bronze medal in the relay event after clocking 49.88s. With that, we came to a rather successful day 2 after most of the athletes either bagged a medal or secured a place in the finals which were going to be held on day 3.

Team Odisha had three athletes participating in the finals on the third day and despite their commendable efforts, unfortunately, none could win a medal out of their events. Laxmipriya Kisan just fell short in the 800m finals as she finished a commendable fourth in a fast race with a timing of 2:16.26s. Pankaj Mondal suffered from cramps in the 800m finals and finished eighth with a time of 1:58.24s. Lastly, Reyan Basha secured fifth place in the 200m finals with a time of 22.28s. The youngster is in the bottom of the age group and has two more years at the championships. This ended all the events of the athletics team of Odisha contingent at the Khelo India Youth Games 2022.

The team bagged an astounding total of seven medals, which included four gold, one silver and two bronze with nine individual athletes returning to Odisha with Khelo India medals. It was quite a successful and eventful 3 days for Team Odisha, and all young athletes would be proud of the amount of effort they put in order to represent Odisha. Congratulations to all the winners and good luck with their future competitions.

For more information on the athletes, institutions, and special initiatives please visit us here: www.rfyouthsports.com
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