Swimming against the tide is always full of challenges, something that needs determination and courage. That was exactly the task at hand when the state government hosted the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium from July 5 to 9.Hosting the Asian Championships involves at least two to four years of planning but the Odisha government did not have that. The event was originally supposed to be hosted in Ranchi, Jharkhand but they withdrew with barely three months left for the event.
The event was in jeopardy with no other state coming forward to his, even though cities like New Delhi and Bengaluru already had the necessary infrastructure. Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla requested the Odisha Government to host the championships on March 6, saying that the AFI had already deposited the bidding fee of $20,000. Simultaneously, the then Sports Authority of India director general and sports secretary Injeti Srinivas, on March 24, also persuaded the Odisha government to host the event as it was a matter of the nation’s prestige.
At this crucial juncture, the Odisha government came to the rescue and offered its willingness to take up the challenge of hosting the event in just 90 days. Many had apprehensions whether the organisers would be able to deliver the event in time, but the Sports and Youth Services officials proved everyone wrong by completing the task way before the deadline. The event was a stupendous success with many foreign visitors praising it for its organisation, hospitality and facilities.
The state government machinery left no stones unturned and worked around the clock to make the event successful and memorable. The synthetic track at the main ground was relaid and a new track was constructed at the practice ground. A new electronic scoreboard was installed along with floodlights, new chairs were fixed in the galleries and international standard equipment was procured. As the host nation, Indian athletes with the biggest-ever contingent of 95 members rose to the occasion with a highest-ever tally of 29 medals (12 gold, 5 silver, 12 bronze) thus beating their previous high point of 22 medals in the 12th Asian Athletic Championships at Jakarta in 1995.
The success story would be incomplete without the mention of talented Odiya athletes Srabani Nanda, Dutee Chand, Purnima Hembram, Jauna Murmu and Amiya Kumar Mallick. While Dutee won a double bronze in the women’s 100m and the women’s 4x100m relay, Srabani (4x100m relay) and Purnima (Heptathlon) claimed a bronze medal each.
The legacy of the event is multi-fold. International and national organisers like IAAF president Lord Sebastian Coe, AFI president Adille Sumariwalla and secretary CK Valson applauded the Odisha government for the event’s success. The meet was also a good test of the state’s organising capability, ahead of the FIH World Cup, which will play out at the Kalinga Stadium from November 28. To mark the success of the event, the state government also decided to set up a high-performance centre for athletes at the venue.