Khelo India Youth Games: Odisha athletes continue to impress

Odisha continued their strong outing in the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games in Madhya Pradesh.

The State U-17 boys performed splendidly to clinch gold medal in 4×100 relay at the event on Saturday.

The sprinters are Jayram, Rajendra, Nitish and M Reya. They put up a dominating display in the event to emerge champions.

The girls’ team from Odisha bagged the bronze medal in Women’s 4x100m Relay. Sabita Toppo, Jamuna Tudu, Laxmipriya Kisan along with Sundargarh’s Marymukta Soreng finished third in the event.

Meanwhile, Swagat Behera from Odisha secured a silver medal in the boys’ triple jump event by finishing second.

Merymukta Soreng from the State finished third in girls’ triple jump event to win a bronze medal.

Earlier on Friday, Odisha girls' and boys' Kho Kho teams clinched gold and bronze medals, respectively.

The girls’ Kho Kho team dominated the gold medal match from start to produce a scintillating win by 32-26 margin against Maharashtra. 

On the other hand, the boys’ Kho Kho team defeated West Bengal 14-12 in the bronze medal encounter.

The Khelo India Youth Games is an important event for young athletes in the country. Formerly known as Khelo India School Games, Khelo India Youth Games are the annual national-level multidisciplinary grassroots games in India held in January or February for two categories, namely under-17 years' school students and under-21 years' college students.