Bhubaneswar: The iconic Kalinga Stadium here is all decked up to host the 24th National Para Athletics Championship from March 18 to 21.
Suryabanshi Suraj, Odisha’s minister for Sports & Youth Services, will inaugurate the championship at 4 pm on Wednesday.
The four-day championship, being organised by the Paralympic Committee of India, in collaboration with Odisha’s Sports & Youth Services Department and Para Sports Association of Odisha, will bring together 1,460 para athletes.
They will represent 28 states, along with teams from Border Security Force (BSF) and Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), and will vie for 145 medal events.
Satyanarayana, Chairman, Para Athletics, PCI, informed at a press conference that the events will be conducted from March 19 to 21 in two sessions — 9 am to 11 am, and 4 pm to 8 pm.
Odisha will be represented by a 40-strong contingent, led by Suchitra Parida, national record-holder in F55 Javelin throw event.
Haryana, who topped the medals tally in the previous Nationals held in Chennai, have sent the largest contingent to Bhubaneswar.
The championship will feature several Paralympic medallists, Arjuna awardees, Asian Games and World Championship medallists, including Mariyappan Thangavelu (Rio 2016 gold, Tokyo 2020 silver, Paris 2024 bronze), Sumit Antil (Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024), Navdeep Singh (Paris 2024 gold), Praveen Kumar (Tokyo 2020 silver, Paris 2024 gold), Preethi Pal, Praveen Kumar, Devendra Singh Gurjar, Jayanti Behera (Asian Para Games medallist), Yogesh Kathuniya.
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