Ray created history earlier this year as she became the first-ever individual Senior National medallist for Odisha, bagging one gold, two silver and one bronze at the 77th Senior National Aquatic Championship in Mangalore. She also has the reputation of winning four gold and three silver medals in different international competitions.

Jayaram secured one silver and one bronze medal at the 4th South Asian Junior Athletics Championship this year in Chennai. Patri became the first Indian shuttler to win the U-15 girls singles gold medal at the Asian Junior Badminton Championship 2024 in Chengdu, China.

Instituted in the year 1993 by Indian Metal Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) and managed by IMFA, the leading Ferro Alloys producer in the country, Ekalabya Puraskar has come a long way to be recognized as the most prestigious sports award of Odisha, drawing parallels with many national awards. The award is given every year to young sportspersons of Odisha in recognition of their outstanding performance in the preceding two years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ PICS ------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP: Pratyasa Ray receives the 32nd Ekalabya Puraskar from Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo in Bhubaneswar on 3 Nov 2024. Also seen in the pic are: Ekalabya Puraskar Committee Chairman Baijayant Panda and IMPaCT Trustee Paramita Panda.
RIGHT: Ace swimmer Pratyasa Ray, badminton prodigy Tanvi Patri (Extreme left) and junior international sprinter DM Jayaram (Extreme right) pose with Ekalabya Puraskar and citations in Bhubaneswar on 3 Nov 2024.