Lalu Bhoi, son of mason from a village in Odisha dreams big

Panaji (Goa) [India], October 30 (ANI): Odisha’s promising sprinter, Lalu Prasad Bhoi, has set his goals for the 100m dash as the track and field competition of the 37th National Games.

The 20-year-old from Kalahandi in Odisha wants to better than his personal best of 10.48 seconds on Sunday. “My target here at the National Games is to win a medal,” the youngster said after his Saturday training session.

Bhoi had recently won bronze in the 100m dash at the National Open U23 Athletics Championships in Chandigarh. His bronze-winning time was 10.64 seconds. “I lost focus in the last 20 meters of the 100m dash which spoiled my chances of winning gold,” he explained.

Besides, individual 100 sprint, he will also be a member of Odisha’s 4x100m relay team.

Bhoi was member of the national 4x100m relay team shortlisted for the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou. But the team narrowly missed the qualification mark of 39 seconds.

With the 2023 season almost over, Bhoi has some ambitious goals for the future. One of them is to break 10.30 seconds for 100m dash. “I think I’ve the potential to do it,” the young sprinter said of his future plans.

Bhoi has less than two years of sprinting experience. He believes with hard work and international exposure he should be able to achieve his goals.

For graduation he shifted to Bhubaneswar from his village. In Bhubaneswar he was selected for Odisha’s high-performance center and further got a push in the athletics. Initially he started as a long jumper and won a medal at the junior national. He even got selected for the 2022 World U20 Athletics Championships held in Columbia, but was dropped from the national team due lack of fitness. “It was my first big international and I was a bit nervous during the final selection trials,” he explained of missing the World U20 Championships.

He also competed in the World University Games this year. Off the field the young sprinter faced a lot of hardship. His father works as a mason, while mother does odd job. It was also a challenge for the parents to support a family of six, including four siblings. Bhoi is the third in number.

This season was good for the young sprinter as he was able to earn prize money (app Rs 1 Lakh) to support his family. “Half the prize money I gave to my father, while the remaining half I invested back to sports,” he said before signing off for the day.