Odia Para athletes return home to rousing welcome

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Para athletes Pramod Bhagat and Jayanti Behera who own medals for the country at Para Asian Games in Jakarta arrived in Bhubaneswar to a rousing welcome.

“Earlier I had participated in two other Para Asian Games and had not achieved much success except at 2014 Para Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea where I had to settle for a Bronze medal after losing the semi-final. Therefore, I trained even more and the hard work paid off. I was able make my country and state proud after winning a gold & a bronze medal,” said shuttler Bhagat.

“It’s disheartening to see that the state government is ignoring Para athletes like us. If support is provided then more athletes like us can shine at various other events across the world,” added Bhagat.

“The competition was tough and pressure was immense as this was my first Para Asian Games. Because of dedication and hard work, I managed to win bronze and Silver in 400 and 200 mts running events respectively. All credit goes to my coach Bishnu Prasad Mishra and my Physio Kirti Prakash Das,” said Behera.