Odisha sprinter Srabani Nanda felicitated with Rs 9.40 lakh cash awards

Bhubaneswar: Athlete Srabani Nanda was today awarded cash prizes to the tune of Rs 9.40 lakh by the Sports and Youth Services Department for her outstanding performance in the 37th National Games 2023 held in Goa and other sports meets.

Speaking at a special felicitation function organized by the Department at Kalinga Stadium, the Minister for Sports and Youth Services Tusharkanti Behera said, “Today, we are proud to felicitate talented athlete Srabani Nanda. Due to dedication and hard work, she has not only earned a medal for herself but has also made the whole of Odisha proud. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given priority to sports and necessary infrastructure, world-class training, promotion of sportspersons and employment.”

Srabani thanked the Chief Minister and the Sports Department for the award and said that the infrastructure like indoor athletics, tempareture controlled aquatic center, FIFA standard football stadium and training center will help producing many international players from Odisha in the coming days.

Sports and Youth Services Secretary R. Vineel Krishna extended his best wishes to Srabani and assured all support by the state government.

Speaking on the occasion, Director Sports, Siddhartha Das, said Srabani is a perfect example of how success can be achieved through hard work and dedication.

Srabani’s coach Nilamadhab Deo and physio Arjita Lenka were also felicitated by the department on the occasion.

It may be mentioned here that Srabani was awarded Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh respectively for winning gold in 200m and silver in 100m at the 37th National Games 2023. Similarly, Rs 60,000 and Rs 40,000 cash prizes were given for gold and silver medals in the 61st National Open Championship-2022 and Rs 40,000 for the silver medal in the 62nd National Open Championship 2023.