The general attitude and thinking towards sport has to change in the country for its rise as a sporting powerhouse, eminent sports journalist Mr. Digvijay Singhdeo said.
Countries like USA, China, Japan, France and Germany, which walk away with the maximum number of Olympic medals, have been successful because their athletes do not toil with the objective of winning medals at the Olympics. They do it as part of their daily life, Mr. Singhdeo said while speaking at the prize giving ceremony of ‘SOA Cup’, the annual sports meet of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University here, on Wednesday.
Mr. Singhdeo said people in these successful countries take to sports not to win medals in Olympics but to keep fit and learn skills, teamwork and how to respect opponents.
He said the tremendous progress Odisha had achieved in creating sports infrastructure in recent years had caught the imagination of the country and it had completely changed the state’s identity.
Congratulating the students who had excelled in the competitions, Mr. Singhdeo advised them to chase their passion.
Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Vice-Chancellor of SOA, also addressed the students and distributed the prizes.
The competitions included football, cricket, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi, badminton, table tennis, softball, tennis, kho kho, chess, throw ball and athletics.
Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, SOA’s Dean (Students’ Welfare), Dr. Sourya Ranjan Das,
Convenor for SOA Cup this year, and Sports Officer Ms. Sunita Barma were present.
In the event, It was also announced that Dr. Tanmay Parada will be the coordinator for the event next year.