Two athletes and four women hockey players from Odisha wear the Indian colours at Rio Olympics. While Srabani Nanda and Dutee Chand will figure in track and fields events, four Odias are part of the Indian women’s hockey contingent that has made it to the Olympics after 36 years. Anwesha Ambaly of The Telegraph sheds light on the Olympians from the state

TRACK & FIELD

SRABANI NANDA

• Born: July 5, 1991
• Event: 200m
• World ranking (women’s 200m): 120
• Date of event: Aug. 15
• Time: 6pm

The challenge
• World record: Florence Griffith Joyner of USA, timing 21.34 sec (1988)
• Olympic record: Florence Griffith Joyner of USA, timing 21.34 sec (1988)

Claim to fame 
• Bronze in women’s 4x100m relay at Delhi Commonwealth Games, 2010
• Bronze in women’s 100m sprint at 2007 SAF Games in Colombo
• Gold in 100m sprint, new national record clocking 11.45 seconds at New Delhi in 2016

Her story 

The 24-year-old athlete hails from Phulbani in Kandhamal district. She had clocked 23.07 seconds in women’s 200m race at the G Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to book Rio ticket. Srabani’s father is a retired clerk, while her mother is headmistress at local school. Srabani took to sprinting upon her father’s insistence and has been training at the Bhubaneswar sports hostel under coach Nilamadhab Deo. Her present trainer is Tarun Shah.

DUTEE CHAND

• Date of birth: February 3, 1996
• Event: 100m
• World ranking (women’s 100m): 81
• Date of event: August 12
• Time: 8.25pm

The challenge
• World record: Florence Griffith Joyner of USA, timing 10.49sec (1988)
• Olympic record: Florence Griffith Joyner of USA, timing 10.62sec (1988)

Claim to fame 
• First Indian female sprinter at Olympics in 36 years
• She clocked 11.24 sec in 100m sprint at Almaty to qualify for Rio Olympics  
• First Indian to reach final of global athletics 100m at 2013 World Youth Championships
• Broke two national records in women’s 100m at the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships
• Set new national record in 60m, clocking 7.28 seconds at 7th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships

Her story

Dutee hails from poor weaver family in Jajpur. Third among seven children, in 2006 she and sister Saraswati Chand were enrolled in Bhubaneswar sports hostel. One of her memorable wins was a double gold haul in 200m and 4X100m relay events at the 16th Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Taipei in June 2014. Since she won the Tata’s small car at the 58th National School Athletics Meet in 2013, her teammates lovingly call her Nano. Her biggest setback happened in 2014 when she was banned from competing in national and international events after testing high for levels of androgen.  In July last year, she won a landmark case on gender testing guidelines at the court of arbitration for sports against world athletics governing body IAAF.

GOOD WISHES

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Four Odia girls — Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Sunita Lakra and Lilima Minz — are part of the 16-member Indian women’s hockey team, which is in Rio for the Olympics. All of them are from Sundargarh district, which is known for producing players who have donned national colours

DEEP GRACE EKKA (DEFENDER)

• Born: June 3, 1994

Her story: Ekka, who hails from the tribal belt of Sundargarh, has been consistent in her performance with Team India. At the age of 13, she joined the SAI-SAG centre in Sundargarh. She played her 100th international match against Australia this year at the Four Nation Women Tournament in Darwin. In 2014, Ekka was a member of the bronze winning team at the 17th Asian Games at Incheon. Last November, she had led the Indian women’s hockey team to New Zealand for six-match Test series

NAMITA TOPPO (DEFENDER)

• Born: June 4, 1995

Her story: Product of Rourkela’s Panposh Sports Hostel, the player from Sundergarh has proved her mettle quite early in her career. With two years of her international debut, she played her 50th international match against South Africa at the 20th Commonwealth Games at Glasglow in 2014. Last year, Hockey India felicitated her as the ‘upcoming player of the year’ 

SUNITA LAKRA (DEFENDER)

• Born: June 11, 1991

Her story: Also a product of Panposh Sports Hostel, Sunita has more than 50 international matches to her credit. She made her international debut in 2009 and has been part of squads that took part in the 17th Asian Games at Incheon, 8th Women’s Asia Cup Hockey Tournament in Malaysia and Hawke’s Bay Cup Tournament in New Zealand 

LILIMA MINZ (MIDFIELDER)

• Born: April 10, 1994

Her story: Lilima has 74 international matches and seven goals to her credit. She is considered one of the most dependable players. She was part of the 2013 Indian team that made history by winning bronze for the first time in Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup in Germany. In 2015, she played her 50th match for India against China in Hawke’s Bay Cup in New Zealand. On Sunday, Lilima scored in India’s 2-2 draw with Japan