Athletes with intellectual disabilities, their partners and coaches made Odisha proud by helping India win seven medals in the 16th Special Olympics World Summer Games, which concluded in Berlin, Germany today. The seven metals featured four silver and three bronze medals.

Out of the seven medals, intellectually disabled athletes won four, which included three silver and one bronze. Other four medals, featuring one silver and two bronze, were secured by the supporting role of partners and coaches.

Aridita Chakraborty of Open Learning System (OLS), Bhubaneswar was the most successful among Odisha athletes, bagging one silver and one bronze medal for the country.

Aridita secured the silver medal in Level-C 400 mtrs run in, clocking 1:24.05 on the concluding day. Earlier, Aridita bagged the bronze medal in women Level-D shotput event, throwing the iron ball to a distance of 4.55 metres.

Baishnab Rajpalia of Saintala, Balangir bagged the silver medal in men Level-C shotput with an effort of 8.44 mtrs. Seventeen-year-old Baishnab is a Class-X student of Special School RSD, Saintala. He is the only son of Bhuban and Kasturi Rajpalia of Tikarpada village.

Among other Odisha medal winners, cyclist Kalpana Jena from Athagarh, Cuttack, bagged the silver medal in 2km time trial event, clocking 5:42.42 on June 21. Daughter of agriculture labourers Gadadhar and Gitanjali Jena, Kalpana was spotted and groomed by local coach Bibekananda Mohanty.

Sachin Barik from Saraswati Sangha, Barpali was the only one among four intellectually disable athletes from Odisha who could not win a medal in the Berlin Special Olympics World Games. He was part of the Indian futsal team that narrowly missed a bronze medal and settled with the fourth position.Jhasketan Sahu of ASRA, Balangir was the coach of the Indian futsal Team.

Jyotiranjan Ojha of CBID, Nimapada was a partner of the Indian mens unified volleyball team that won the bronze medal. Shibani Priyadarshini and Mamali Nag of KIIT University also played the role of partners for the Indian unified beach volleyball team that pocketed the bronze medal, defeating Costa Rica.

Sasmita Routray from Sahaya, Cuttack was the coach of the Indian Women Basketball team that captured the silver medal. India bagged a total 202 medals, which included 76 gold, 75 silver and 51 bronze.

"It is a proud moment and a moment to savour and rejoice," said Kasturi Mohapatra, President Special Olympics Bharat-Odisha. “This should give our coaches confidence to ensure participation of more and more athletes from various parts of the State especially from the rural areas," stated Special Olympics coach Arpita Mohapatra.

Prakash Rath, Area Director, SOB-Odisha lauded the grit, determination and perseverance of the athletes and their coaches who, he said, had gone through a lot of hardships before achieving success.
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PHOTO: Multiple medal winning Odisha athlete Aridita Chakraborty in action during a running event at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, Germany on 25 June 2023.