ITANAGAR, Oct 17: Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday felicitated young athlete Joti Mane, who recently became first from Arunachal Pradesh to win a gold medal in any national athletics championship.
Khandu congratulated Mane for her stupendous feat, saying the state was proud of her and encouraged to keep practicing and bring more laurels for the state.
“Set your goals high and work from the ground. Every state citizen is behind you,” he said.
The athlete won 5000-mtr race in the girls’ U-20 category in 31st East Zone Junior Athletics Championship, conducted in Ranchi during September 14 and 15 last.
When informed that she clocked 19.45 minutes to win gold, Khandu lauded her in-born talent and reiterated that raw talents are abundant in youth, particularly in remote areas. Mane hails from remote Monigong in newly created Shi-Yomi district.
She admitted that there are many talented athletes in her village, who, after witnessing her success now, were eager to take to track provided basic facilities are made available.
Expressing gratitude to the CM, Mane attributed her success to her coach, M K Pegu because of whom she is availing training facilities at Sangey Lhaden Sports Academy here while pursuing her BA degree (1st semester) at DNGC here.
Mane was spotted by a talent hunting organization when she was studying at Aalo but couldn’t attend the final selection camp at Guwahati due to her class-XII examinations, Pegu said.
“After her exams, I pursued with DNGC authorities and got her admitted under sports quota so that she could get training in sports academy,” said Pegu, who is retiring next year.
When asked about the training facilities in the academy, Mane said: “The facilities are not up to the mark. Here we train on different ground while we have to run on different surface in competitions. It would be helpful for our athletes if similar tracks are developed here.” She profusely thanked the CM for felicitating her and said that the meeting was a dream comes true.
Mane promised the CM that she will give her best in ensuing 35th National Junior Athletics Championship, 2019, scheduled from 1st to 2nd November next in Andhra Pradesh.
Sports & Youth Affairs secretary-cum-CM’s secretary Ameya Abhayankar, who visited the sports academy Thursday morning, gave details of facilities and infrastructure coming up there. He assured that the department will prepare a road map for the academy while putting in place a mechanism to track the development and training of sportspersons.
Shi-Yomi District Olympic Association president Aling Pingam accompanied Mane. (PRO)
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