BHUBANESWAR 02-Nov-2016
The dignity of Ekalavya Award, arguably the biggest and oldest honour in the field of sports, increased further with legendary athlete Milkha Singh conferring the 24th edition of the coveted award on Odisha sprinting queen Srabani Nanda in a function held at Mayfair Convention here today.
Srabani, who represented India in women 200 metre event of the Rio Olympics earlier this year, received a cheque of Rs 5 lakh along with citation. Speaking on the occasion, Srabani said the award would inspire her to strive for better results. ``I have been fortunate enough to represent the country in the 2016 Rio Olympics. But my dream will always be winning an Olympic medal. Hopefully, I can do it at Tokyo 2020.”
Odisha hockey internationals Dipsan Tirkey and Deep Grace Ekka were also honoured for their outstanding performances at various national and international level tournaments. Both were presented with citations and a cash award of Rs 50,000 each. In the absence of Deep, who is currently representing the country in the Asian Champions Trophy at Singapore, her sister-in-law Seema received the award on her behalf.
Addressing the gathering `Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh lamented that despite notable improvement in infrastructure and other facilities, India is yet to win an Olympic medal in athletics. ``I missed it in Rome Olympics and so did P T Usha and Anju Boby George,’’ said the legendary runner. He expressed that as his last wish he would like to see an Indian athlete winning a medal in Olympics.
Now in his late eighties, Milkha advocated that Athens Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhar Singh Rathore should be allotted the Sports Ministry instead of the Information and Broadcasting. ``We are not doing justice by allotting a different portfolio to him. None better than an Olympic medalist can understand the strength and weaknesses of sports in India,’’ he opined.
Reminiscing his earlier connection with Odisha, Milkha said when he won the 400 metre gold medal with Asian record in the 1957 National Athletics Championship at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, he could not believe his achievement. ``The stadium seemed small in size. I could not sleep that night. Next morning I went to the stadium with a tape and measure the track. It was 400 meter and I became relived,’’ he recalled.
Instituted in the year 1993 Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT), the charitable wing of the IMFA Group, Ekalavya Award is being given every year with the aim to encourage young and outstanding sportspersons of the state. The earlier 23 awardees include Rachita Mistry, Anuradha Biswal, Dutee Chand, Purnima Hembram (all athletics); Dilip Tirkey, Lazrus Barla, Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, William Xalxo, Subhadra Pradhan, Gloria Dung Dung (all hockey); Shiv Sundar Das, Debasis Mohanty, Sanjay Raul, Rashmi Ranjan Parida (all cricket); Padmini Rout, Kinan Manisha Mohanty, Debasish Das (all chess); Mamata Jena, Pravani Dwivedy, Pratima Puhana (all rowing); K Ravi Kumar (Weightlifting) and Shriyanka Sadangi (Shooting).
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PHOTO: Ekalavya Award winner Sranani Nanda (Right) with Flying Singh Milkha Singh (Centre) and runner-up Dipsan Tirkey in Bhubaneswar on Nov 2, 2016.
