"Evening race could have been better for us", Srabani Nanda disappointed with conditions

Olympian sprinter Srabani Nanda won a bronze medal in the 200m events finishing just 0.03 seconds behind Hima Das of Assam who took home the silver and Archana Suseendran of Tamil Nadu won the gold medal.

"Thanks to god, I finished well. These girls are amazing and gave me the fight and support to run at this point in time in the season. I'm not really satisfied with the time, but I'm grateful for it that I completed it and followed the coach's instructions," Srabani told The Bridge after winning her medal.

Expressing her concern about the timing of the event, the veteran sprinter said, " And for this atmosphere, I'm not really happy because it's really hot and dry and all the athletes and officials have been complaining about it, but nothing to do. It's the same for all the competitors and they could have done it in the evening, would get better time, that will help us to get a better time."

"The facilities are really good, like food, accommodation, they are on time, which is the main thing that we don't have to wait and not have to lose a lot of energy. I came to Gujarat for the first time and really loved it," Srabani shared her experience of National Games 2022.

Srabani qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics becoming one of the few Indian sprinters to have the distinction of running in the Olympics. She trained in Jamaica for a while.

Talking about her stint in the Caribbean country, Sarbani said, " Well, I went to Jamaica to learn. I went to Olympics in 2016 in 200 meters and I wanted to explore more, to know what the world is doing, to gain knowledge, to gain techniques."

"It was tough to stay away from the family and miss the festivals. It was hard and I would feel lonely at times but I learnt a lot. And I will apply my learnings in future events," recalls Srabani.

Srabani thanked Odisha Government and Odisha Hydropower Corporation for the change in her life. "It was a big change after Olympics. Thanks to Odisha Government for their work at every level, from top athletes to the athletes at the grassroots level. Life has changed and I am hungry to do more," said Srabani.

The 31-year-old from Odisha has been around the corner for a long time now and she is really excited to look at the next crop of upcoming athletes.

"Sprinting is the thing that you can never predict what's going to happen because in a short period of time you have to achieve a lot and from start to end one mistake can be dangerous. So Jyothi is really talented and she's holding the national record for 100 meters hurdles. I'm clearly saying that if athletes continue to work hard, they will excel at the international level," Srabani ends with a smile.