Bhubaneswar: Making Odisha proud, athletes Purnima Hembram and Jauna Murmu have been selected to represent India in the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
The selection committee of Athletics Federation of India named the 31-member Indian Athletics team for the Commonwealth Games 2018 which is scheduled to be held from April 4 to April 15 in Gold Coast, Australia. The athletics team consists of 18 male athletes and 13 women including Purnima and Jauna.
Following their good show in the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championship in Patiala earlier this month, Purnima Hembram was selected to compete in the Heptathlon event while Jauna Murmu was selected to represent the Indian Women 4x400m relay team.
In the Federation Cup, Purnima bagged Gold in Heptathlon while Jauna finished third in 200m sprint with a timing of 24.64 seconds.
Although Dutee Chand clinched a Gold medal in 100m sprint in the event, because of her timing of 11.60 seconds she failed to make it to the Commonwealth Games. On the other hand, Amiya Mallick also did not perform well and finished fifth in 100m sprint for male and hence failed to qualify for the prestigious competition. Srabani Nanda was also left out of the Indian Athletic contingent as she didn't compete in the Federation Cup.
Both Jauna Murmu and Purnima Hembram have been performing well at the national and international level competitions quite consistently. In the Asian Athletics Championships held in Bhubaneswar last year Purnima Hembram won Bronze in Heptathlon while Jauna Murmu qualified for the final round in 400m hurdles.