Reliance Foundation’s young athletes will be looking to make their mark at the upcoming Khelo India Youth Games, which will be held in the state of Tamil Nadu across four cities from January 19 to 31. A total of six athletes – Sandeep Gond, Rajendra Sidhu, Nitish Kullu, Reyan Basha, Sunita Sant, and Ommkar Prasad Nanda – will be in action at the Games.
This will be the first major event that RF athletes will be competing in 2024. The athletes will look to set the tone for the rest of the year by starting confidently in their first competition of the year.
The trio of Sandeep Gond, Rajendra Sidhu and Nitish Kullu will be competing in the men’s 100m hurdles event, Reyan Basha will take part in the men’s 100m event, Sunita Santa will take to the track in the women’s 2000m steeplechase category. Ommkar Prasad Nanda will be in action in the men’s shot put and hammer throw events. Rajendra and Nitish were a part of the Odisha team which won Gold in the previous edition in the men’s 4x100m relay with a new Khelo India Youth Games record.
Speaking before the competition, Martin Owens, Head Coach, Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre, said, “Of our athletes, Reyan is ranked no 2 among the entrants in his category, so he is among the strongest medal contenders for us. In the hurdles, Rajendra and Nitish both medaled at the National Junior and Youth Championships respectively, so both of them will be among the top contenders here. This will also be Sandeep’s last event in the U18 category before he makes the step up to the U20 category, so he will be looking to finish on a high.”
“Ommkar also medaled at the National Juniors, where he was among the youngest athletes, so he will derive confidence from that. This will be his first U18 competition, so it will be interesting to see how he steps up. Sunita was an absolute surprise package as she won bronze at the Junior Nationals in just her second race after taking up the steeplechase event. Our athletes have had the best kind of preparations and we are confident of them doing their best at the Khelo India Youth Games.”
The previous edition of the Khelo India Youth Games saw an impressive display from the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Center Athletes, who registered Odisha’s best ever medal haul of 7 medals at the competition in athletics, including four Gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
The Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Center, a collaboration between Odisha Government and Reliance Foundation, provides comprehensive support to India’s top athletic talent, including world-class coaching, equipment, sports medicine, and rehabilitation. With over 50 athletes trained in various athletics disciplines, the centre has produced outstanding results at the national as well as international level.
