Odisha State Weightlifting Competition

After the success of the district competitions, the Khel Vikas weightlifters were eagerly looking forward to the state competitions. The weightlifting hall was still in the process of drying after cyclone Phailin and electricity was far from restored. These conditions did not dampen the athletes’ spirits as they knew that they had to "up their game" for the coming state competitions. With the guidance of Khel Vikas coach, Cormac Whelan, the athletes were inspired to take the training to a whole new level.

Video analysis 
During the practice sessions Cormac used a video camera to analyse and improve the techniques of the weightlifters. He provided athletes with video clips of their lifts, and guided them to make small changes to improve their performance.

Two categories
The Odisha State Weightlifting Championships began on the 9 of November with the youth category for girls and boys aged 13 – 17 years old. The following day was reserved for the junior category for girls and boys aged 15 – 19 years old. In total 120 weightlifters from 12 districts of Odisha participated in the two day event.

Youth competitions
Out of the eight Khel Vikas athletes that travelled for the competition, six participated in the youth competitions. Khel Vikas’ female athletes had stiff competition from girls of other districts, but still managed to secured one gold, two silver and one bronze medals.   Tukuni Badamundi, who recently joined the Khel Vikas Kankia Weightlifting Academy not only won gold but broke four state records.  The boys competition for Khel Vikas witnessed a nail biting finish, where Khel Vikas' only male athlete to compete finished just 3kgs behind the winner in his category, securing a silver medal.

Junior competitions
Three athletes participated in the junior competitions. Archana Pradhan, who secured silver in the youth, bagged a gold medal in the junior competitions while Baidehi Majhi, participating for the first time in this category won bronze.  Prasad Mohanty, an international level weightlifter, bagged a gold medal, and treated the large crowd to some great entertainment by breaking four state records, and lifting a record total of 244Kgs.

Looking ahead
Five Khel Vikas athletes have been selected for the national competitions to be held in Guwahati from the 19 – 27 December.

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team]