Odisha’s Bapi Hansda won silver medal in 5th Youth Asian Athletics Championship
India’s Bapi Hansda on Sunday won an impressive silver medal in 400m hurdles at the ongoing 5th Youth Asian Athletics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He clocked 51.38 seconds, his personal best to finish ahead of Sri Lanka’s Kuda Liyanaz Ayomal, who won the bronze medal with a time of 51.40, while Qatar’s Mahamat Abkar Abrahaman won the gold with a time of 50.91 seconds.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “I congratulate Bapi for his achievement at the Asian level. He is an inspirational example for other athletes. Despite a lot of challenges in his personal life, Bapi was able to achieve this feat.” are. I wish.” Bapi, Koch and the entire team at Odisha Reliance Foundation HPC are very nice. I am happy that our investments in the sports ecosystem have started showing results.”
Bapi, a native of Basta in the coastal district of Balasore in the northernmost part of Odisha, is currently a part of the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Center and is making remarkable progress in the 400m hurdles. Bapi recently won the gold medal in the 18th National Youth Championship by clocking 51.90 seconds. With this time, Bapi achieved the world No. 1 position in the under-18 age group and also qualified for the Asian Youth Athletics Championships.
Chief Minister Patnaik had recently honored Bapi Hansda with a cash award. 25 lakhs for his feat at the Nationals.
Talking about Bapi’s race in Tashkent, a jubilant Odisha Reliance HPC head coach Martin Owens said, “Bapi ran a brave race. He was a bit nervous before the race as he finished third in the heat yesterday Which is why he was assigned. Lane 8. I call it a gutsy effort from him today because he was running almost blind in lane 8, he was a little behind in the middle but he had a great finish. In 400m hurdles it was his only 5th attempt, it’s a fantastic achievement and the boy has done his best.”
The head coach is optimistic about Bapi’s prospects in the upcoming events as well. He will next be in the running for the honor at the Commonwealth Championships in August. “We are looking at taking him to the Commonwealth Championships in August and then prepare for the Junior World Championships next year. This kid has got a lot of potential,” Martin said.
Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Center is a collaborative effort between the Government of Odisha and Reliance Foundation, which aims to ensure that the athletic talents of India and Odisha have access to the best infrastructure, coaching teams, equipment, sports medicine and rehabilitation support Are. Required to deliver at the highest level of performance. Since 2019, Odisha Reliance Foundation HPC has trained over 50 athletes in various athletics disciplines and won several medals at national and international levels.
