Ace sprinter Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram provided some relief to Odisha as won the first medal for the host State with a gold in U-20 mens 100 metre event on the second of the 39th National Junior Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar today.

The 19-year-old Kalahandi athlete clinched the gold with a time of 10.50 seconds. Despite being the host and fielding a 78-member strong squad, Odisha failed to win any medal on the opening day and during the morning session of the second day.

However, after Jayaram brought the much needed joy with his gold, Odisha won another medal during the evening session today with Samikshya Smaranika bagging bronze in U-14 girls triathlon-B, scoring a total of 2407 points. She scored 718 points in 60m dash (8.44s), 926 points in long jump (3.42m) and 763 points in shot put (13.53m).

The five-day championship is being hosted by the Department of Sports & Youth Services, Government of Odisha, in collaboration with Athletics Federation of India and Odisha Athletics Association.

Jayaram has established himself as a promising sprinter of the country, winning three junior international and more than 15 national medals since 2022. He hails from Bhawanipatna and trains at Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar.

On the other hand, the triathlon bronze was the first National medal for Samikshya, who belongs to Jajpur district. Earlier this year, she bagged the triathlon-B gold medal at the 35th East Zone Athletics Championship, which was also held at Kalinga Stadium.
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PHOTO: Odisha sprinter D M Jayaram poses with his gold medal at the National Junior Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar on 8 Dec 2024.