RANCHI: Odisha's Srabani Nanda and Amiya Kumar Mallick, although past their peak, once again demonstrated their capabilities by winning their respective races at the Indian Open Athletics meet at Birsa Munda Stadium here on Thursday.
While Amiya won the men's 100m sprint in 10.66 seconds, Srabani won the women's event with a timing of 12.33 seconds. She also competed in the 200m event and secured the title, finishing in 24.75 seconds.
For someone who has a PB of 23.07 sec, she was obviously disappointed with her efforts, but she has no plans to call it quits despite many of her friends, family and coaches telling her to.
"There are many senior athletes like Sahana Kumari, HM Jyothi, Pramila Aiyappa and Anuradha Biswal who kept performing even through their 30s and 35s, and they are an inspiration for me. So, as long as my body is fit, I will continue to perform. The aim is to always give my best and keep improving," said the 2010 CWG bronze medalist after her race on Thursday.
"I want to keep going as long as my body sustains. I don't want to regret in future that maybe I could have performed for two or three more years."
Amiya, meanwhile, is more than excited just to be part of this period where the sprinters across the country are chasing the magical time of sub-10 seconds in 100m.
Although he has been a regular in the 4x100m Odisha relay team and grabbed gold in the National Games early this year, it was his first individual race since the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru last year, where he was sadly disqualified because of a false start.
Before that, he competed in the 100m at the National Games in Goa in 2023 but finished a below-par seventh. However, after a solid start to the season here, the former national record holder is aiming to make his mark at the Federation Cup in Kochi later this month.
"Ranchi is very close to my heart, so I really enjoyed competing here. 10.66 is not at all a bad start to the season for me and performing after such a long time," said the Odisha sprinter.
While giving his best is always the target, what also gives him a lot of joy is competing with the youngsters and pushing them to go past the 10-second barrier. As he said, when he began his career, there was no one in Odisha to look up to. But today, he is an inspiration to many, including the likes of Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram, who has a PB of 10.40 seconds and took part in the U20 World Championships last year.
"Making that time is not only about individual talent but a team effort. There are other factors too, but what's impressive is that there are a lot of new talents who have come up in recent years. Matured and experienced athletes like us are also working hard. So, someone may breach the mark in the recent future," added Amiya.
For now, one cannot wait to see how the two Odisha athletes perform at the Federation Cup where the best of the country is likely to take part.
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