Saraswati Chand

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: Sports lovers across the state are in a joyous mood with athlete Saraswati Chand repeating history by winning two gold and one bronze medals at the 14th World Police and Fire Games, on at New York.

Chand repeated her golden feat of last time at the global sports event. She had won two gold medals in the 13th edition of the event.

The only Oriya to be part of the 30-member Indian police squad for the biennial games, Chand gave a brilliant performance in the relay and hurdles events. She grabbed gold in the 200 metres sprint and 4x100 metres relay events. Her bronze came in the 400 metre hurdle.

Chand, a havildar from Jajpur, had left for the event last month. The games begun on August 26.

“She called us on Thursday to inform about her victory. It is a proud moment for Orissa police,” said a senior official of Jajpur.

“She expressed how thrilled she was on winning medals for the country at the mega event,” he added. The World Police and Fire Games feature around 15,000 participants from all over the world in its 80 events.

Speaking to The Telegraph last week, Chand said she had set higher targets for herself. While she had won six medals at the 13th World Police and Fire Games held in Canada in 2009, this time she has already grabbed three. Earlier in May, she had won two gold medals at the All India Police Athletics Championship.

Athletes and other sportspersons have congratulated her on her feat.

“Women athletes of our state have immense potential and are very hardworking. It is great to see athletes like Chand perform brilliantly and make the country and the state proud,” said former national hockey captain Dilip Tirkey.

“She has been a consistent performer and has proven her skills time and again. Achievements like these by any sportsperson of the state encourage all of us,” said weightlifter Ravi Kumar.

Chand would return to Delhi from the games to train in Patiala for upcoming events.