Bhubaneswar: She did no other Oriya athlete has done in the past. Orissa para athlete Jayanti Behera has put the state on the map of world athletics by winning one gold and one silver medal in the recently-concluded World Junior Para Athlete Championships at Nottwil, Switzerland, August 3-6.
Jayanti, who returned to the city here Wednesday, was given a rousing reception by the Orissa Para Athletic Association officials and some sports enthusiasts at the Biju Patnaik International Airport. Her coach Bishnu Prasad Mishra was also accompanying her.
Jayanti struck a gold in the 400 metres T47 event with a timing of 1.01 minutes. She also bagged a silver medal in the 200 metres T47 category by clocking 28.04 seconds.
Talking to reporters Jayanti expressed satisfaction about her performances. But she rued lack of support from the government and corporate sectors.
“Whatever I have achieved is because of my hard work and my coach Bishnu Sir’s guidance. But it’s quite unfortunate not to get any support from the state government despite all of my achievements at the international level tournaments,” Jayanti said.
“The Orissa government gave Rs 5,00,000 each to the able-bodied for the World Athletics Championships. But they have never provided me a helping hand in spite of winning medals at international meets. If the state government comes forward to help para athletes, we will provide better results than the regular ones,” she added.
Bishnu on the other hand urged the government to allow Jayanti to avail of the facilities at the Kalinga Stadium. “She needs to practice on synthetic tracks to do well in various international events. But it’s unfortunate that she is not getting the chance to do so,” he said.
On the other hand Orissa sports department official Gyana Ranjan Parida feigned ignorance about Jayanti’s achievements. “Generally the associations don’t inform us prior to any event. We only come to know about it from media and extend necessary help,” he informed.
Earlier this year Jayanti had achieved similar success at the China Open Para Athletics Grand Prix Championships by winning a gold and silver medal in the 400 metres and 200 metres.
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