A Birla Institute of Technology student gets ready for her shot put round at the institute’s sports meet in Patna on Friday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Sportsmanship was the order of the day on the Birla Institute of Technology campus as students came out to compete in the tech cradle’s Annual Athletics Meet 2013 on Friday.

Around 800 students from different departments took part in events, including 100m and 1,500m race, javelin throw, tug-of-war, shot put and musical chair. While the winners of the events that ended on Friday (the meet will conclude on Sunday) were ecstatic, the ones who did not reach the winners’ podium were happy to participate.

The athletics meet started at 9 in the morning and concluded around 6pm. Excitement was writ large on the faces of the students, for many of whom it was their first participation in a college event.

Rituparna Das, a second-year electronics and communication engineering student, competed in the shot put event. Four teams took part in the finals of the event. The electronics and communication engineering department won the finals.

On whether she and her team tried to distract the opponents, Rituparna said: “I am extremely nervous. It is my first time participating in a college programme and I can hardly think of any strategy.”

The finals of shot put (women), 1,500m race (men), long jump (women), high jump (men) and 800m race (women) took place on Friday.

Sushant Ranjan, a third-year student of the electrical and electronics engineering, won the the 1,500metre race. He said: “I practised for the event for the past five to six days. To build my stamina, I played football for hours and did 15 rounds of the college ground. My hard work has paid off.”

Vishal Rituraj (third-year, civil engineering) and Shashi Ranjan (third-year, computer science and engineering) came second and third, respectively. Rituraj was far from dejected that he did not win. “I am happy I came second in spite of a ligament injury,” he said.

Kirti, a first-year architecture student, competed in the shot put and was happy, irrespective of the final result. “I am not a champion in this game. When I will be in my final year, I would be too busy with studies. So, now I am trying to enjoy this moment as much as possible.”

Patna commissioner ELSN Bala Prasad, the chief guest on Friday, said: “It is a wrong perception that techies cannot be good sportspersons and a sportsperson cannot do well in a technical job. Today (Friday), the students of Birla Institute of Technology have proved this.”