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In A First, 3 Athletes From Odisha's KIIT University To Represent India At Tokyo Olympics
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Odisha, 6 July 2021 9:08 AM GMT | Updated 6 July 2021 4:22 PM GMT
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Creatives : Ankita Singh
A literature lover who likes delving deeper into a wide range of societal issues and expresses her opinions about the same. Keeps looking for best-read recommendations while enjoying her coffee and tea.
CA Bhavani Devi, Dutee Chand, and Shivpal Singh are all students of KIIT who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The university is also sending Dr Sudeep Satpathy as an official sports medicine doctor to the event.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) became the only Indian university to give the country three Olympians this year. CA Bhavani Devi, Dutee Chand, and Shivpal Singh are the three KIITians who have qualified for Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The university is also sending Dr Sudeep Satpathy as an official sports medicine doctor to the event.
Who Are The Three Olympians?
CA Bhavani Devi — who has qualified for Sabre (Fencing) — is the first Indian fencer to have ever qualified for the Olympics. Sprinter Dutee Chand qualified for both the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint (Athletics). However, this was not her first time in the Olympics. She had participated in the Rio 2016 Olympics, becoming the only Indian to participate in two events in two times in Olympics.
Shivpal Singh — a first-year BBA student at KIIT — has qualified in Javelin Throw. In a video released on Twitter on June 28, Shivpal had extended gratitude to his university, mentioning that the varsity hosts several other sportspersons who help each other a lot.
KIIT: Constant Focus On Sports
The university has always emphasised promoting sports. In a felicitation ceremony for CA Bhavani in March, Dr Samanta claimed that KIIT and KISS premises have the largest state-of-the-art sports and games infrastructure among all the educational institutions in the world, producing as many as 5,000 talented players so far, as reported by Kalinga TV.
A brainchild of Dr Achyuta Samanta, C R Mishra, and PK Mishra, KIIT was founded in 1992 in Odisha with just two faculty and twelve students. Cut to 2021, and the institute now is home to 2,500 faculty and researchers and over 30,000 students. Ranked 1st among 'Private Higher Education Indian Universities', it is now a leading university, focusing on interdisciplinary culture.
Odisha: Future Sports Capital Of India?
In the past few years, Odisha has made a name for itself in the country's sports sector. Badminton player Pramod Bhagat from the state is a leading contestant in the upcoming Paralympics.
Apart from promoting its sportspersons, the state has successfully hosted several national and international sporting events, like the Hockey World Cup 2018 and the Asian Athletics Championship 2017. Odisha recently made it to the headlines when its State Police Service appointed 39 sportspersons, 30 of whom were women and nine of whom were men.
Also read: Odisha Police Appoints 39 Athletes; State To Invest In Developing Sports Infrastructure
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