Bhubaneswar, July 9: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today announced that the Kalinga International Sports City would be set up here.

He announced this on the concluding day of the Asian Athletics Championship at Kalinga Stadium.

The championship ended today with Odia athlete Purnima Hembram bagging a bronze medal in heptathlon this evening.

The four-day event concluded with two of the five Odia athletes finishing with medals. On Friday, sprinter Dutee Chand also secured a bronze medal in the women's 100m sprint.

Besides, Dutee and Srabani were members of the Indian women's relay team, which finished third in 4X100m relay yesterday.

However, sprinters Amiya Mallick and Srabani disappointed the home fans in their respective individual events. While Amiya finished 7th in the men's 200m final, Srabani finished a disappointing 5th in the women's 200m. Dutee, who also took part in the women's 200m final, missed the chance of bagging another medal by a whisker. She finished fourth in the event.

Although, the games brought mixed feelings for fans of the Odia athletes, India finished on top of the medals standings with 29 medals, including 12 gold, five bronze and 12 silver, ahead of China's 20 medals (eight gold, seven silver and five bronze) and Kazakhstan tally of eight (four gold, two silver and two bronze).

Purnima thanked the home crowd for their tremendous support. "The event (heptathlon) was extremely difficult as it involved seven disciplines. I performed to the best of my ability and will try to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in London next month," said Purnima. The winners of the championship qualified for the directly championship, to be held from August 4 to 13.

"It was an experience of a lifetime for me to perform in front of the home crowd, which stood behind me from the very beginning of the championship. I am thankful to the home crowd for thronging the stadium in such large numbers and encouraging the Indian athletes. I hope the venue will host similar championships in future," said Dutee.

The stadium was packed throughout the event and home fans cheered every moment. "It was a double delight for us as the host country topped the medal standings and two of the Odia athletes secured medals. The stadium hosted an international event for the first time and the host country dominated the entire event," said Sitanshu Jena, a spectator.

Sports department officials said the state is hopeful of hosting other international events in the future.

"It was a challenge for the government to host the event on such short notice after Ranchi pulled out at the last moment. We not only managed to complete rebuilding the infrastructure in 90 days, but also provided all kind of facilities to the athletes and officials," said a sports official.