Reliance Foundation’s Jinson Johnson, Jyothi Yarraji, Kishore Kumar Jena and Mohammed Afsal Breach Asian Games Qualifying Mark

Reliance Foundation’s (RF) athletes put in a splendid display in a full-strength field at the 62nd Inter-State Athletics Championships to end their campaign with 20 medals including 8 gold, 8 silver, and 4 bronze medals. In a strong showing, seven athletes from RF breached the Asian Games qualifying mark, while five shattered meet records in their events.

Martin Owens, Head Coach, Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Center, picked out the efforts of the Odisha men’s and women’s relay teams, which comprised three High-Performance Center athletes as a big highlight. “The tournament started off very positively with Jyoti winning the women’s 100m quite comfortably but frustratingly missing the Asian Games qualification by 400th of a second. She didn’t let that knock her down, she came back and won the 100m hurdles easily in the Asian qualifying standard. She topped that off with a silver in the women’s 4x100m. The Odisha 4X100m relay team won bronze, which included Sabita, Sukhi and Bonita, all athletes from the Odisha RF HPC.”

Shattering 23 yr record:

• Amlan Borgohain’s glorious run of form saw him win gold in the 200m event with a time of 20.71s. His effort shattered Anil Kumar’s 23-year-old record of 20.80s.

Asian Games qualifications:

• Jinson Johnson continued his unbeaten run in 2023 as he breached the Asian Games qualification standard on the final day of action at the 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. Jinson clinched gold in the 1500m with a timing of 3:42.77, which was also under the Asian Games qualification standard of 3:47.84.

• The reigning Asian Games champion and Reliance Foundation athlete Jinson, said that he was looking to improve his timing further. “I’m very happy. The Asian Games will be very important. I have to work very hard and ensure that I improve by a minimum of 2-3 seconds. My goal is to run 3:37. Then I can win all kinds of races.”

• Odisha Reliance Foundation HPC athlete Kishore Kumar Jena won a silver medal along with surpassing the qualifying mark for Asian Games through a personal best in the Javelin Throw. Jena’s best effort was 82.87m in a field which saw three throwers cross the 80m mark.

• Earlier in the competition, Reliance Foundation’s Jyothi Yarraji and Mohammed Afsal also breezed past the qualification standard for the Asian Games in the women’s 100m hurdles and men’s 800m events respectively.

• From the endurance program, Karthik Kumar made the cut in the 10000m event with respect to the qualification mark for the Asian Games.

• Serial record-breaker Jyothi was at her record-breaking best as she clocked 12.92s in the 100m hurdles event to seal first place. She put in another fine display in the 100m event to finish top of the podium with a time of 11.46s. She was also awarded the Best female athlete of the competition.

• Afsal, who recently ran his career-best time in Europe, won silver in the 800m event in a time of 1:47.47s. Having achieved his goal of dipping below the qualifying standard for the Asian Games, Afsal has now set his sights on medaling there. “I really have to win the Asian Games and Asian Championship. I believe that I can win and break the national record. I aim to reach 1:44, and with Reliance’s support, I believe that I can do it.”

A Glut of Medals:

• Young Tejas Shirse proved his mettle with a gold medal-winning effort in the men’s 110m hurdles event, running a time of 13.87s. Among the other Reliance Foundation athletes who were among the medals were Elakkiyadasan, who won bronze in the men’s 100m in 10.47s and Yamandeep Sharma, who won silver in men’s decathlon with 7165 points his personal best.

Relay Glory:

• Reliance Foundation’s athletes also starred for their respective states in the relay events. The trio of Abhishek Dalabehera, Laluprasad Bhoi and DM Jayaram powered Odisha to a silver in the men’s 4x100m relay, while Sabita Toppo, Bonita Lakra and Sukhi Baskey were a part of the Odisha women’s 4x100m relay team that struck bronze.

• Elakkiyadasan added a gold by starring for Tamil Nadu in the men’s 4x100m relay, while Jyothi completed a hat-trick of medals by leading Andhra Pradesh to a silver in the women’s 4x100m relay event.