Odisha won five gold and two silver medals in the 4th Indian Open U-23 Athletics Competition, which was organised by Bihar Athletics Association, under the auspices of Athletics Federation of India at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna, Bihar from 28 to 30 September 2024.
Among the Odisha medal winners, Animesh Kujur clinched a sprint double, winning both the mens 100m and 200m gold medal, clocking 10.40 seconds and 20.65 seconds respectively. He created a new meet record in 200m run, bettering his own previous record of 20.87 seconds he had established last year in Chandigarh.
A trainee of Bhubaneswar-based Odisha-Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, Kujur also set a new meet mark in 100m semifinal with time of 10.38 seconds. He eclipsed the previous mark of 10.39 seconds, achieved by Pranav Gurav in 2022. With his scintillating performances, Kujur was awarded as the best male athlete of the three-day competition.