Odisha women Purnima Hembram and Jauna Murmu bagged a total of five medals, albeit for their employers in the 57th National Open Athletics Championships, which was held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai from September 25 to 28, 2017. The medals included four gold and one bronze.

Purnima, representing Railways, bagged an individual double by capturing gold medals in women’s 100m hurdles and heptathlon events with efforts of 13.89 seconds and 512 points respectively. Janua, turning out for ONGC, first secured the bronze medal in 400m run, clocking 54.50 seconds.

She then won her first gold medal in women’s 400m hurdles, clocking 58:25 seconds. Jauna ended her campaign with another gold, which she pocketed as a member of the ONGC women’s 4x400m relay team.

Six more athletes from Odisha also participated in the four-day championship but in vain. They were: Chinmay Ranjan Jena, Kishore Kumar Jena (both men’s javelin throw); Ashish Kumar Patra (men’s long jump), Bighnaraj Miridia (men’s 400 metre), Manoj Kumar Maharana (men’s discus) and Parbati Sethi (ONGC, women’s discus).
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PHOTO: Jauna Murmu in action at the National Open Athletics Championships in Chennai.