BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Olympic Association (OOA) has allegedly omitted Priti Lakra, who won gold at the East Zone athletic meet, from the state junior athletics squad, raising eyebrows. The hosts for the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium here from October 10 to 14, selected a 75-member squad in which Lakra’s name was not to be found.
Hailing from the Sikajore village of Sundargarh district, Lakra bagged three medals in the recently concluded 34th East Zone Junior Athletics Championship held in Ranchi from September 22 to 24. She won silver in the U-20 women's 100m event, clocking 13.06 sec before adding a bronze in the triple jump. Lakra was also a part of the women's 4X100 relay team that won the gold.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had fixed a qualification time of 12.75 sec for the U-20 women’s 100m sprint. Lakra clocked 12.58 sec and stood first among all the participants during the selection trials conducted by OOA in Cuttack last month, and yet she did not make the final squad.
“For the sake of promoting sports, if we are only going to host national and international events in our state, there is no way it is going to support and develop the local talents. It’s unfortunate that after achieving the set qualification timing framed by AFI, the young athlete could not get the entry in the team for the upcoming national meet to be hosted by the state,” said a veteran athlete from Odisha on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Odisha Olympic Association secretary Avijit Pal said, “This is a matter of honour and pride that we are going to host back-to-back National Junior Athletics Championship in our state. It’s an opportunity for our athletes to experience the national meet at home atmosphere. Any athletes of our state who touched the AFI qualification mark can participate in the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships.”
Pal, however, when questioned about Lakra's exclusion from the state team for the meet starting on Friday, said, "The girl from Sundargarh did not meet the qualification standards."
