Shillong, Dec 10: Rikangku D Sangma has scripted history by earning a bronze medal in the 39th National Junior Athletics Championship, the first medal for Meghalaya in a quarter of a century at a national level athletics event, the Meghalaya Athletics Association informed today.
The 12-year-old Rikangku, from Karukol Jalaigre village in Garo Hills, took bronze in the U-14 kids’ javelin with a distance of 51.91m in Bhubaneshwar.
Long distance runner Beningstar Lyngkhoi was the last Meghalayan athlete to win a medal at the national level, with a bronze in the U-16 boys’ 2000m race in 1999.
Rikangku has been coached for the last three months by Pleasantly Synnah, an experienced athletics coach from the state Sports & Youth Affairs Department, who is also the Joint Secretary of the MAA.
Rikangku also took part in Triathlon B, which is a combined event consisting of a 60m race, long jump, shot put and was placed 14th. This was his first real competitive sprinting, jumping and shot put event.
Three months earlier, at the East Zone Junior Athletics Championship, he won silver in kids’ Javelin and was fourth in the triathlon.
The MAA “is very proud of his achievement and wishes him the best in his future endeavours,” the Association’s Secretary, Finely L Pariat, said today. “I thank the Department of Sports for always supporting us and I humbly request the government to give additional support to the Association in order to be able to give a longer period of coaching to potential athletes to make an impact and bring medals for the state at the nationals, as Rikangku has done.”
Pariat also appreciated Synnah for his “continuous efforts and dedication throughout the calendar year in helping our young athletes shine at the regional and national competitions as well. Under his leadership, we had won medals in almost every competition we took part in.” He also thanked senior coach Daisy Marwein and other coaches from the different districts who have been working diligently with the athletes.
(Photo contributed)
