PARADIP: Five-year-old Buddhaditya Mohanty from Bhubaneswar may remind one of Budhia Singh, acclaimed as the youngest marathon runner, as he participated in the 17th Paradip Marathon, 2020 here on Friday.
The 14-km marathon was organised by Gopabandhu Kreeda Sansad of Paradip Port Trust (PPT) on the occasion of Port Foundation Day. Despite age restrictions imposed by the PPT authorities, Buddhaditya chose to go ahead with support from parents.
Buddhaditya’s father Debadatta Mohanty said he decided explore his child’s full potential as he had started running 25 to 30 km since the age of three.
“I decided to train him further. Now, he runs 65 km from Palasuni to Puri at one go. When he gets tired, he slows his pace but does not stop,” said Debadatta.
“We requested the authorities of Kreeda Sansad to let our son participate in the marathon but they refused to enter his name as he was under-age. The marathon’s age criterion was 18 to 41. But despite that, our son participated,” said Buddhaditya’s mother Gopa Rout.
“We didn’t have any objection to Buddhaditya’s participation. But we were supposed to obtain permission from Paradip Port Management as the child is under age and hence should be allowed subject to his health condition. This marathon belongs to the age group of 18 to 41 years and we had to abide by it,” said Gopabandhu Kreeda Sansad working president Bablu Sikdar.
PPT Chairman Rinkesh Roy flagged off the event as chief guest at Hanuman Temple Square. The marathon concluded at Gopabandhu Stadium.
As many as 678 participants took part. Sudhansu Nayak of Odisha Police won the first prize in the men’s category followed by Budra Bisi Nayak, also of Odisha Police.
In the women’s category, Itishree Mohanta and Sandhya Murmu of Mayurbhanj came first and second respectively.
International athlete Jauna Murmu was also felicitated on the occasion. Felicitating other winners, Roy urged everyone to participate in Fit India campaign.
Officials and technical members of Paradip Port Sports Council along with officials of Odisha Olympic Association conducted the event.