Odisha women relay squad, consisting of Sukhi Baskey, Sabita Toppo, Bonita Lakra and Srabani Nanda, settled for bronze medal, clocking 46.68 seconds. This was the second medal for Olympian Srabani Nanda, who had won the first medal for Odisha, securing the women 100m silver on the second day.

Among other Odisha athletes in action today, Swadhin Kumar Majhi finished fifth in men high jump. Sabita Toppo secured seventh position in women 100m hurdlers, while Pragyan Prasanti Sahu did not finish the race in the same event. International heptathlete Purnima Hembram missed a bronze medal and finished fourth.

Meanwhile, the hot and humid conditions in Bhubaneswar raised serious concern for the wellbeing of the athletes. For the second successive day, the temperature in the Capital City crossed 44 degrees, creating new records. International decathlete Tejaswin Shankar was seen bleeding from his nose. Many more athletes also struggled in the swealtering heat and humid conditions.

But the AFI president Adille Sumariwalla down played the issue, saying that the weather conditions were warm. He even claimed that despite such weather conditions, thered have been excellent performances in some events.

Sumariwalla argued that athletes must get used to different weather conditions to excel at the international level. “Athletes might encounter similar conditions in Bangkok during the Asian Athletics Championship next month.
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TOP: Members of Odisha men 4x100m realay team (L-R), Abhishek Dalabehera, Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Dondapati Mruty Jayaram and Amiya Kumar Mallick pose with their silver medal in Bhubaneswar on 17 June 2023.
RIGHT: Members of Odisha women 4x100m realay team (L-R), Sukhi Baskey, Bonita Lakra, Srabani Nanda and Sabita Toppo display their bronze medal in Bhubaneswar on 17 June 2023.