BHUBANESWAR 08-Sep-2011 263
Experienced Orissa woman athlete Saraswati Chand returned home today after bagging four medals in the 14th World Police & Fire Games last week at New York. She was accorded a warm reception here at the Biju Patnaik Airport.
Police AIG Purusottam Sahoo, Sports Officer Prashant Kumar Padhi and athletics coach Sailendra Prasanna Burma greeted the 29-year-old sprinter with garlands and bouquets. Chand expressed her happiness for winning two gold (200m sprint and 4x100m relay), one silver (4x400m relay) and one bronze (400m hurdles) medals for the country, but regretted missing another gold.
``I missed the gold in the 400 metre sprint due to technical fault,`` said Chand, who serves as a havildar major in Jajpur, her home district. This was the second time that Chand cornered glory in the World Police Games.
In the previous edition at British Columbia (Canada) two years ago, she had secured six medals (gold in 200m and 400m sprint; silver in 400m hurdles, 4x100m and 4x400m relay and bronze in 800m run).
Chand, the lone bread-winner of a nine-member family, was later taken to Cuttack, where she was congratulated by OSAP 6th Battalion Commandant Girish Kumar Khatua.
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PHOTO: Saraswati Chand shows her World Police Games medals in Bhubaneswar on September 8, 2011.
