Olympians among 400 athletes to compete in athletics meet today

Patna: Olympians Kishore Jena and Karan Pahal among the country's 400 top athletes will compete in the Indian Open Athletics Meet 2025 being organised at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna on Saturday.The event is being held in Bihar for the first time, said DG-cum-chief executive officer of Bihar State Sports Authority (BSSA), Ravindran Shankaran, on Friday. Among the other top athletes to participate in the meet are former national record holder (100m, 200m) Amiya Malik, Asian silver medallist in javelin throw Sachin Yadav and two-time Asian bronze medallist in heptathlon Purnima Hembram. Animesh Kujur and Dev Meena, the national record holders in 100m, 200m and pole vault respectively, Asian medallist and Olympian Ankita Dhyani, India's first gold medallist in javelin throw in Asian U-18, Himanshu Jakhar, will also be seen in action.The meet is a part of the Athletics Federation of India's (AFI) decentralisation initiative aimed at expanding the competition to the far corners of the country and providing bigger platforms to the athletes closer to home, he said. The meet is being conducted by the AFI and Bihar Athletics Association under the BSSA supervision.Shankaran said an athletics track of international standards, as was used in the Paris Olympics, will be built in the Patliputra Sports Complex soon. Giving details about the athletics meet, Shankaran said the athletes will compete in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw and javelin throw events.He said 23 players from Bihar are also participating in this edition.Former director of Sports Authority Sanjay Kumar Sinha, secretary of Bihar Athletics Association, Liaquat Ali, and ME Shamsi of Athletics Federation of India, were present at the press conference.