Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today felicitated Odisha track and field athlete Bapi Hansda with a cash award of Rs 25 Lakhs for winning the 400m hurdles gold medal in the recently concluded 18th National Youth Athletics Championship with a time of 51.90 seconds.

According to a press release from the office of the Chief Minister, with this timing, Hansda is now ranked World No 1 in under-18 years age category. This achievement also helped Hansda qualify for Asian Youth Athletics Championship, which is scheduled in Uzbekistan later this year in April.

But the timings given in the press release is not correct. Hansda clocked 51.90 in the heats, not in the final. He won the gold medal, clocking 51.95 seconds in the final.

Congratulating the rising star on his achievement, Chief Minister Patnaik lauded Hansda for his dedication and hard work and inspiring budding athletes. He appreciated the coaches and support staff for their contributions towards making the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre emerge as a major hub in the country.

Hansda, who hails from Baleswar is the youngest of five siblings and had lost his father in 2008. After lot of personal struggles, he found his passion for athletics and was spotted by the HPC for his talent and inducted into the Kalinga Stadium in 2019.

Within a short period, he displayed exceptional talent and work ethics which impressed the coaches including Head Coach Martin Owens. Since then he has been a part of the endurance training program at the Athletics HPC and he also got the opportunity to train with some of the top international athletes of India at Ooty, earlier.
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PHOTO: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik felicitates Bapi Hansda with a cash award of Rs 25 lakhs in Bhubaneswar on 23 March 2023.